Finding Serendipity
by kr2009
Summary: Edward's breakfast errand ends in him stumbling upon something unexpected. He discovers that sometimes a simple good deed isn't enough. And sometimes, two homeless girls can completely change your life. AH.
1. Chapter 1

**Twilight and its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. I'm just playing around with them.**

**Lots of thanks to_ MelissaMargaret_ for making this pretty, and to _anhanninen_ and _xxluvCarlisleEsmexx_ for prereading. And thank you _WhisperingWolf_ for the title suggestion.**

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**EPOV**

I stepped outside the door of the warm bakery, only to be immediately assaulted by the biting Chicago air. It was still early. Too early to be awake, let alone walking outside, but the snow was already falling steadily. And even worse, the never-ending wind was never-ending as it whipped snow into my face and hair, the only parts of my body I was stupid enough to leave uncovered when I left the house this morning.

"Stupid snow," I grumbled, kicking the feet along the sidewalk. "Stupid wind. Stupid bagels. Stupid mom."

I pouted as I walked even though I knew I was acting like a bratty kid. I really couldn't help it today.

Of course my mother came into my office on the coldest day of the year and forced me to get breakfast for the family. And of course she only wanted a specific kind of bagel from a specific bakery six blocks away.

I didn't get it. There was a café _in our building_. Why did I have to suffer through this cold and wet shit for these particular bagels?

But since I was a sucker for my mother, I was stuck doing this. All I knew was that these cinnamon raisin bagels better be the best damn bagels on Earth.

Thankfully, I didn't have to buy any coffee so I shoved the bag of bagels under my coat and used my free hand to wrap around my body, lowering my head as I began my trek back.

It was just too cold. The sidewalks weren't even that crowded which said a lot about how horrible this was. Usually, I couldn't walk five feet without bumping into or having to dodge someone.

Four blocks to go, and I was practically sprinting as I mumbled as many _adult_ words as I could think of. Mom's "no foul language in the office" policy hit me hard last week after some dumbass transposed some numbers, leaving me to sort everything out. I didn't have enough spare cash for the charity jar with everything I wanted to say.

After going through every adult word in my vocabulary, I raised my head. The wind blew snow into my face, but I sighed in relief since I could finally see our building. The central heat was calling my name, and I couldn't wait to answer.

I had to slow my pace slightly since more people appeared in my way. I was too pissed to offer any fake apologies when I bumped into a few people, but they could just get over it.

One block away, and someone bumped into _me_. I was pushed into an alley between two buildings, dropping the bagels into a pile of snow in the process. I nearly growled as I snatched up the bag and prepared myself to go after the fucker, but something stopped me.

A _sound_ kind of something. I wasn't alone here.

I tried to listen closer as I stood still. It was a cry. A soft cry…and maybe singing? I shook my head to get rid of the snow in my ears because I had to be hearing things. No one was supposed to be crying or singing in an alley at seven am in the middle of a snow storm.

Not knowing what to do, I turned slowly and scanned my surroundings.

Snow pile, dumpster, dumpster, newspaper, trash, a huddled form.

My eyes widened.

That was a person. Sitting in an alley. Possibly crying and singing.

I swallowed forcefully, now _really_ not knowing what to do. I was catching hypothermia, but I couldn't exactly abandon this person without knowing if he or she needed help. On the flip-side, this could be a psychopath trying to mug me or turn me into an episode of _Law and Order_.

The person cried out again, this time moving slightly. With the movement, my eyes widened further. The huddled person was actually two people. A little girl and an even littler girl. The littler one was the one whimpering while the bigger little one rocked back and forth. Even from my spot from a few yards away, I could tell they were dirty and probably colder than I was.

Alleys shouldn't contain crying little people.

Shit just got real.

My feet moved forward without my permission. At least now I was fairly sure I wouldn't be inspiring a TV episode.

What could these two little people do to me?

I walked softly but then realized that I needed to do something to make my presence known because neither of them seemed to hear me. It wasn't my goal to scare them, not that I knew what my goal actually was.

I cleared my throat. "Um…hi? Are you…uh…are you okay?"

The bigger little girl's head jerked up, and I immediately stopped moving. A chill ran up my spine, but this time, it wasn't from the weather.

I was twenty-five years old. I'd been to college and seen some pretty fucked up things at frat parties.

But I had never seen that much _fear_ on someone's face before. It surprised me, and I had no clue what to do.

"Whoa," I gasped, raising my hands defensively. "I'm not gonna hurt you or anything."

The girl wrapped her arms even tighter around the littler girl and turned further from me, using her body as a shield but never taking her eyes from mine.

I stayed still, waiting for her to calm.

Now that I had a closer look, I realized my first impression wasn't accurate. This little girl probably wasn't really a girl. Based on her face, she was at least a teenager, but definitely not as old as me. And the littler one was…well, really little. I wasn't good with estimating ages, but she was somewhere between a baby and a kid. She was still crying but softer now, as if she shared the opinion that I was dangerous.

I didn't understand.

I was wearing a five hundred dollar suit, for God's sake. How could I be dangerous?

I took a tentative step forward. "I won't hurt you," I repeated, hoping she'd believe me.

She didn't move again, but I didn't get too close either. I wasn't sure why this mattered to me, but I didn't want to traumatize her or anything. I just needed to make sure they were both okay so I could go inside.

"I'm Edward. Edward…Cullen. I work down the street." I wasn't not sure why I was telling her about myself. Casual conversation didn't belong in an alley any more than crying and singing did. "So…yeah. Are you okay?" I asked again, and this time, she gave me a small nod.

"Okay. Good. That's…good." I looked down at my feet.

What was the protocol for finding girls in alleys, anyway? They looked like they hadn't had a bath in a couple of days at least. And based on how many layers of clothes they were wearing, homeless seemed to be the right description. As far as I knew, normal people didn't dress like that no matter how cold it was outside.

I only saw one large backpack beside them, stuffed so they obviously have some possessions. I'd never seen a homeless person this close before so I wasn't sure what the standard deviation was. These two could be outliers as far as I knew.

I looked up, meeting the girl's eyes again. She was watching me curiously now, probably wondering what I was doing. Hell, I was wondering the same thing.

Suddenly an idea hit me, and I quickly reached into my back pocket. The movement made her gasp and cower against the wall of the building. But when she saw that I was just getting my wallet, I saw and heard her relief.

What did she think I was going to do?

I searched through my wallet even though I knew I didn't have much cash. There was my change from the bakery and a few other small bills. Nothing substantial. I was hesitant to go to the back section of my wallet where I kept my emergency cash, but this might qualify as an emergency.

Pulling out a fifty, I slowly reached my hand out. The girl's eyes went back and forth from watching my face to watching my hand. As much as I wanted to shove it at her so I could go inside, I remained patient.

Finally, she made up her mind and reached out her hand, snatching the bill from me before hiding her face on top of the smaller one's head.

That was disappointing. I didn't expect a thank you from this mute girl, but some kind of acknowledgement would have been nice.

I sighed as I backed up slowly, watching these girls as I went. The littler one started crying again, and the bigger one started singing. It was so soft that it couldn't be heard once I was back on the sidewalk, and for some reason, that made me feel better.

Now that I was no longer between buildings, I was subject the wind's abuse once more.

"Stupid wind," I muttered, my head down again, still freezing.

I felt…different though.

Maybe it was the knowledge of my good deed. Charity never really appealed to me before, but now I felt _something_ because I helped those girls.

Maybe I liked this feeling. Maybe. Definitely not enough to shell out fifty dollars every day, though.

And when I walked through the doors of _Cullen Family Designs_, I felt even more, including my fingers, nose, and ears.

I was never going outside again.

…

I rode the elevator up to my floor.

Well, it was actually the family floor. All of our offices were on the sixth floor. I would imagine that in most buildings, the executive offices were at the top. Ours were in the middle.

It was Mom's idea. Apparently having our offices in the middle of the building promoted employee unity or something. And since there were six letters in our last name, that only solidified her plan. What Esme Cullen wanted, Esme Cullen received.

Our floor was quiet as I walked down the hallway. I wasn't sure where everyone was, but I knew better than to question a good thing.

I dropped the bagels on Mom's desk, and after grabbing one for myself I made my way to my office. Everything was exactly the way I left it an hour ago – dark. I hadn't even managed to turn the light or computer on before I was cornered and ordered to go get breakfast.

Still cold, I left my coat on as I attempted to organize my desk. On a good day, it was a disaster area. Today was not a good day, so I finally gave up and let the papers do as they wished. As long as nothing useful landed in the trash can, everything was fine.

I took a bite of my bagel just as Emmett walked in with two cups of coffee. I nodded in thanks as I chewed, hating admitting to myself that it was one of the best bagels I'd ever had. This didn't change the fact that Mom was insane for making me walk six blocks in the snow and wind, but at least they were tasty.

The coffee was decent too, and I nearly chugged it while finishing my bagel. Emmett talked about his weekend plans, but I didn't really listen. I couldn't stop thinking about those homeless girls. Yeah, I was happy that I did a good deed, but shouldn't all thoughts of them have left me now? It wasn't like I'd ever see them again or anything.

In the middle of his yammering, Emmett finally noticed that I was eating in front of him.

"Hey, man. Where's breakfast?"

I focused on him long enough to roll my eyes. "Mom's office."

He nodded and quickly left the room. I was sure Rosalie already gave him breakfast before he left this morning, but Mom would never deprive her firstborn. Even at the expense of her baby's life. I could have been murdered by a psychopath, so she was lucky I only discovered two homeless girls.

I shook my head and frowned, not liking how every thought went back to those girls. The money I gave them could buy food or shelter or _something_ useful, so I was sure they were fine now. Even if they weren't, it wasn't my problem and I had to focus on work now. As much as I wished nepotism was involved here, it wasn't. We all had to pull our weight regardless of last name. And Girl 1 and Girl 2 were not helping.

Emmett came back into the room, crumbs falling out of his mouth as he inhaled a bagel. "What's got you in a pissy mood?"

I didn't want to talk about this right now or ever, but it seemed I had no other options. Emmett didn't know how to let things go.

"When I was getting breakfast, some fucker pushed me into an alley and I found two homeless girls. So I gave them fifty dollars, but now I can't stop thinking about them."

"Girls?" he questioned, raising his eyebrows. "How old were these girls?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. The big one looked like a teenager. Maybe a little older. The little one was…little. How old is Brady? Three? She was probably younger than that."

"Dude, what the fuck were you thinking?" he said loudly, banging his fist on my desk. "Why didn't you help them?"

His tone caught me off-guard. "What are you talking about, Em? I did help her. I gave her fifty dollars. What else was I supposed to do?"

"Ed, I thought you were the smart one. Use your brain! It's freezing outside, and this girl has a kid with her. Practically a baby! You could have brought them inside to sit in the lobby with G."

"Why would Gianna want to sit with some homeless girls?" I asked. She was a receptionist, and I didn't think that was in her job description.

Emmett looked at me like I was crazy. "That's not the point, Edward. You can't just leave them out there."

"Leave who out where?"

"Great," I mumbled, rubbing my face with my hands.

Mom was here, so now it was a party. And if Emmett was mad, I didn't want to see how Mom would react. Apparently I did the wrong thing while thinking I was doing the right thing. I probably should have just stayed in bed this morning.

"Thank you for getting the bagels, dear. Now what are you talking about? Leave who out where?" she asked with a smile, turning to Emmett. She knew he'd give her any information she wanted.

Emmett was an even bigger sucker when it came to our mother. Yeah, she was awesome, and we all loved her, but Em took it even farther. Even when he moved out, it was only five hundred feet away. Of course, I couldn't say anything because I hadn't even made it that far.

"Edward saw some homeless chick with a baby outside, and all he did was give her fifty dollars. Aaannnnd…punish away!"

I wanted to wipe the smug look off his face, but right now, another face was taking priority. I wasn't sure if I'd ever seen Mom this angry before. I was almost worried that she was going to have a brain aneurysm.

Her jaw clinched as did her fists. "Edward. Anthony. Cullen. What the _hell _were you thinking?"

Whoa. Now I was positive that I'd never seen her this angry before. Esme Cullen didn't curse. This would not end well for me.

"Oh, _son_. Told you so." Emmett whistled as he stood and reached over to pat my shoulder. "Good luck with that." He turned and walked toward the door, stopping to kiss Mom's cheek. "I love you, Mom. Don't forget to put a dollar in the charity jar, okay?"

As soon as she turned her rage face to him, he laughed and ran out of the room. He was lucky he can take cover in his office. I was stuck here. It was possible I might die here.

"Mom," I started softly, but she cut me off.

"Why didn't you bring them inside? I thought we raised you better than this."

"But I don't understand, Mom. I wouldn't have even noticed her if some jerk hadn't pushed me and the kid hadn't been crying. They can get food with the money I gave them." I shrugged. "I thought I did a good thing. I don't see what the big deal is…"

By the time I was finished, I wanted to hide in the closet. Mom's rage face transformed into something calmer and somehow even scarier. Her green eyes narrowed and pierced mine, her gaze relentless. She was studying me, and I kind of didn't want to know what she was looking for. I tentatively smiled, testing the waters, but she didn't react.

Suddenly, she gestured to me with her index finger. I immediately stood and start to shrug my coat off.

"No, leave your coat on," she commanded. "Come on. Let's go."

I had no idea where we were going, but I was too afraid to _not_ follow her.

As soon as I was right in front of her, she grabbed my ear and pulled me toward the door.

"Oww, Mom, stop. Where are we going?" I thought this only happened in movies or TV, as if my life wasn't crazy enough right now.

She paused and turned to look at me. "_You_ are going to find this girl again and invite her into the building. I'm just going along to apologize for my son being an insensitive moron. Now, you better hope she hasn't gone very far or you will not be sleeping under my roof tonight."

I gulped and nodded, and she resumed pulling me. She pulled me to her office to grab her coat, scarf, and gloves, and once she was bundled up, she pulled me to the elevator. I was so glad the building wasn't busy yet because this was by far the most embarrassing moment of my life.

Going back outside was the last thing I wanted to do today, but for some reason, I wasn't dreading it. Maybe now I could finally get these girls out of my head. One way or another, I _would _do a good deed.

Mom would make sure of it.

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**A/N: Welcome to my new adventure! To any of my C/Es readers, I hope you'll stick with me with this. And to any new readers, I'm so happy to have you along for the ride!**

**This fic will mostly be self-serving and not _heavily_ researched, so please forgive any inaccuracies. **

**The next update will be after the weekend, and then updates will probably be every two weeks or so. I'm going into my last two semesters of nursing school which doesn't leave me much free time, but I will do my best to update regularly. **

**Thanks again to Mel and Ash. This fic wouldn't exist with them, and their encouragement is invaluable. ILY guys. **

**********_Anhanninen_ and I had a deal to post together today, so go check out her new fic, _Just Breathe._ Her daddyward is lovely, and you definitely won't regret it!**

**********And to end this epically long A/N, I'm on twitter as KelleyRachelle. I complain about school and other boring stuff, but I enjoy the company. =) **

**********Thanks so much for reading! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Twilight and its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. I'm just playing around with them.**

**Lots of thanks to_ MelissaMargaret_ for making this pretty, and to _anhanninen_ and _xxluvCarlisleEsmexx_ for prereading**

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**EPOV**

Mom released my ear and looped her arm through mine as we left the warmth of our building. I was tempted to look back and plead with Gianna to save me. She had her head down on her desk, though, attempting to hide her laughter at my expense, so I didn't think she would be much help.

The wind was just as strong as it was before I came inside. Mom dragged me and somehow expected me to lead at the same time. I wasn't stupid enough to ask where we were going. By now, I knew I was expected to find the two girls.

I led us down the street, feeling my body temperature drop with every step. But Mom wasn't deterred by all of the snow or people. She carried herself confidently, keeping a smile on her face even though she was definitely still pissed.

Three minutes later, I finally saw the right buildings. I sped up as I led Mom into the alley. As we disappeared between the buildings, I breathed a sigh of relief to be out of the stinging wind.

"Uh, son. Are you sure this is the right place?" Mom asked.

Immediately, my relief was gone. This alley was empty. Now I was worried –_ really_ worried.

I released Mom's arm and backtracked to the sidewalk. This was the right spot. There was no way I could have forgotten.

"Mom, I promise this is where I found them," I said, walking back to her. "I don't know where they went, but they were sitting right over there." I pointed to the wall past the dumpsters, and Mom glanced over before turning back to me. "Are we going back now?"

She scoffed. "Do you really expect us to go back now?"

I knew the answer, so I sighed and let her put her arm back through mine.

Now I had no idea what to do. They could have gone anywhere. And with the snow and people, it would be impossible to see them. I wanted to sleep in my bed tonight, though, so I tried to think of a plan.

I'd given the girl fifty dollars. Maybe she went to spend it. There weren't many restaurants around here that served breakfast. But…

"Pharmacies!" I exclaimed, turning toward my mother. "What if she went to a pharmacy to get food or something?"

She patted my arm and gave me the first smile I'd seen all morning. "There's your brain, son. Shall we split up? I'll take CVS."

"I guess I'll go to Walgreens." It was right across the street from CVS, so splitting up wouldn't put us too far apart.

I headed to the intersection and crossed the street when the blinking sign gave me permission. My pace rapid, I walked toward Walgreens. Nothing could stop me. I had to find those girls so I could make this right. Whatever _right_ was.

I was almost there when I saw something. An almost indistinguishable figure was leaving the pharmacy, but I recognized the thick, dark jacket. I also recognized the lump in the front of this figure as the littler girl.

I'd found them, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to run to them, run to my mother, or just sit on the sidewalk and thank whatever power made this mission successful.

Before I had the chance to do anything, the girls ducked into a different alley. I didn't know what was so great about alleys, but they were a popular destination for me today.

As soon as I made sure they weren't leaving the new spot, I crossed the street again and waited in front of CVS. My mother appeared, looking disappointed, but as soon as she saw me, her expression brightened.

"Well?"

"I found them," I said proudly. "They went into another alley next to Walgreens. Let's go before they leave again."

I wasn't sure if _she_ noticed, but it was way too cold to be out here.

Off again, we were soon in front of the other alley. Mom looked as if she was ready to rush in, but I stopped her.

"Mom, wait," I said, gripping her wrist lightly until she turned to look at me. "This girl…she's…well, she's scared. Don't scare her even more or something, okay? I don't want her to run."

She studied me for a few seconds and then her eyes softened. "Okay, dear. I promise to handle her gently."

I nodded, not knowing what else to say.

It seemed that Mom's goal had changed. She'd said I was going to be doing all the work, but now she was leading and approaching them on her own. Not even dragging me around.

Maybe she thought this wasn't something I could do on my own. I would be inclined to agree since I already messed this up once this morning. Two screw-ups before lunch time wouldn't be great.

But for some reason, I wanted to be involved with helping these girls. I still needed that good deed, after all.

So with a shiver, I followed my mother.

This alley was different. Not as deep and possibly even colder. Why didn't these girls just go inside a building? Who could possibly _like_ this weather?

I saw the girls, but I didn't think they saw us yet. There was some soft mumbling that became louder as we got closer, but it didn't stop Mom.

Suddenly, a plastic bottle seemed to jump in front of me. Or maybe I just wasn't watching where I was going. Either way, I tripped but fortunately managed to catch myself before I fell onto the wet ground.

Unfortunately, I made a lot of noise while doing it, and now the bigger girl was staring at us in horror.

My mom froze and held her hands out, palms up, showing she came in peace.

Not knowing what to do with my hands, I waved awkwardly.

She seemed to remember me because she relaxed just slightly as she used her body to hide the littler girl.

I started to clear my throat, but mom beat me to it.

"Hello, sweetheart," mom said softly. "We're not going to hurt you."

"Yeah, we won't do anything," I echoed. "I'm Edward, remember?"

She swallowed forcefully, nodding.

Mom took a step closer and waited for the girl to react. When she didn't move, Mom did it again and again until she was only a few feet away. Then Mom surprised me by kneeling down.

Yeah, I was fairly sure that this girl wasn't dangerous, but I wouldn't want to be in my Mom's position, squatting and totally defenseless. I couldn't believe I was the one who had been accused of not using my brain.

"Sweetheart, would you like to come with us?" Mom asked.

The girl shook her head and started to freak out, scooting back some more to protect the littler girl. "Please," she whispered, so softly that I almost couldn't hear her. "Please, don't take my baby. Please, please…"

Mom gasped. "No. Oh no, darling. We're not going to take your baby. No. We were just wondering if you'd like to come inside with us." She looked up at me. Apparently that was my cue.

"Yeah. Um…we have a building – an office building – a few blocks down." I turned and pointed even though there was a brick wall in my way. "It's down close to where I saw you. I'm…sorry I didn't invite you inside before."

The girl's eyes were still wide and she hadn't moved.

I already knew that I sucked in these situations, so I hoped Mom had a plan since she didn't approve of mine.

"Please come with us," Mom pleaded softly. "The wind and cold aren't good for you…or your daughter." That seemed to get her attention. "We'll get you warm and dry if you'll just come with us. Please?"

Laughter threatened to escape me even though this wasn't a funny situation. Somehow, my mother made this sound like a request when it really wasn't. There was no way she'd leave these girls out here even if they refused. She didn't drag me out in the cold for nothing.

The girl was about to give in. That much was clear by the way she looked back and forth from us to the littler girl behind her. Something made up her mind though, and she nodded.

"Yes, that's it, sweetheart," Mom gently praised. "We'll be waiting right over here for you whenever you're ready."

I backed up to the edge of the alley, and Mom followed. We looked away, waiting a few minutes while the girl gathered up her things and the littler girl.

The girl eventually appeared behind us and shuffled around awkwardly. Mom squeezed my arm before moving to stand beside the girl, giving her a reassuring smile. Well, she managed to reassure me at least, but I wasn't sure if this girl would ever relax around us.

How many times would we have to tell her that we weren't dangerous? We wouldn't hurt either of them, and I had no idea what she meant by taking her baby. What use would we have for a baby?

"Are you ready?" Mom asked.

The girl took a deep breath, nodded, and then wrapped her arms even tighter around the littler girl who was attached to the front of her once again.

Without another word, Mom left the alley. I motioned for the girls to go before me. I was dying to get inside, but I wasn't letting them get behind me. Even Mom's threats would fail at getting me outside again, so we were going to get this right.

Mom walked quickly but slow enough for the girl to keep up. She seemed reluctant to follow, but even I understood that. We were complete strangers at this point, and now we were talking her to our building.

I didn't know what was going to happen to these girls when we were inside, but I hoped my job was finished.

I needed coffee. And I wanted to eat another one of those damn bagels that started this whole thing.

…

The _Cullen Family Designs_ lobby welcomed us. I loved it here, so warm and dry.

I was glad our walk to the office was over quickly and even gladder that the girl didn't try to escape. Not that we'd kidnapped her or anything. My mother might have been a force of nature, but she didn't actually force anything or anyone.

Now that we were inside, the girl was even more paranoid. She constantly looked over her shoulder, and I didn't know what she was looking for. As far as I knew, no one in our building was dangerous. Yeah, we had a security guard at the front door, but Alice said that was mostly because Mom thought Gianna needed someone to talk to all day. Not because we had actually been threatened before.

But at this time of morning, the office was pretty empty. Alice wasn't even here yet, and my sister was always on time. So really, this girl had nothing to worry about. We only passed one other person as we headed to the elevator.

Getting them into the elevator was another challenge altogether. They were both scared, that much I could tell, and as soon as the ride was over and the doors opened on our floor, Girl 1 flew out. Mom was right behind her and gently placed her hand on her arm to lead her.

"Let's go into my office and we'll get you some dry clothes to wear, okay?" she suggested.

The girl didn't have a chance to disagree as Mom pulled her down the hallway and into her office.

Mom's expectations of me were a mystery at this point. I wanted to go back to my office and finish eating, but since I didn't have Mom's permission, I figured I should just follow her. Pissing her off once this morning was more than enough.

Mom worked in fast-forward once she was in her office. Somehow, she conjured up some towels and clothing from her coat closet. Maybe it was a woman thing because all I had in my closet was an umbrella and some hangers. Maybe an empty box or two, but definitely nothing useful for a girl and a littler girl.

"Here you are, dear," Mom said as she motioned with her head for the girls to follow her. "I have some towels for you to dry off with and some clothing for both of you. It might be a little big, but it's warm and dry. Take as long as you need in the bathroom, and we'll be right out here waiting for you."

Girl 1's eyes were huge as she entered the bathroom, probably too startled to refuse at this point. Once they went into the bathroom, Mom placed the clothes on the counter and exited with a smile, closing the door behind her.

"Let's give them some privacy," she instructed me, and I followed her out the door again.

This time, we went to the break room. Mom told me to make more coffee and pour a small cup of juice while she headed downstairs to the café to get some more breakfast. Past arguing, I made the coffee and even found one of the cups with a lid for the littler girl. After I had a fresh cup of coffee and a cup of apple juice, I walked back to Mom's office and stood awkwardly by the desk.

Everything was quiet for the most part until I started to hear whimpers coming from the bathroom. A minute later, the door cracked open, and Girl 1 peaked her head out slowly.

When she noticed me, she jumped but then looked almost relieved. I had no idea why.

I shuffled awkwardly. "Uh…I have some coffee and juice for you whenever you're finished." I sounded awkward too. "So…yeah. Take your time."

She nodded and paused before opening the door further. "Um…I need to change, but she doesn't like closed spaces," she murmured, her voice so soft that I could barely hear it. "Can she stay out here? For just a minute, please?"

Now it was my turn for widened eyes. Little people scared me. Not people with dwarfism, but the kid kind of little people. The small, crying, messy kind. But this one looked a lot cleaner now that she was dressed in dry clothes, and as she looked up at me, her eyes seemed to look _through_ me. It would have been scary if she wasn't so clearly terrified.

"Sure," I said, not very convincingly. "Can she have some juice?" I held up the cup, and Girl 1 nodded.

None of us moved for a few seconds, so apparently I needed to make the first move. I approached the bathroom door slowly, and held out the juice for the littler girl. She looked up at the bigger girl who nodded her approval, and when I reached them, she took the cup from me.

I didn't know how to separate them, but I needed to do this because Mom would be back soon. I couldn't fail. Taking a deep breath, I lifted the littler girl into my arms. She made a whining sound but didn't fight me as I walked over to sit in Mom's desk chair.

I carefully situated her in my lap as her whimpers grew louder. She was panicking which made me want to panic too.

Shit, what was I supposed to do now?

* * *

**A/N: Wow. WOW. You guys are so amazing! I never imagined I'd get this kind of response, and I can never thank you enough for giving this fic a chance. Your reviews/alerts/favorites have put the biggest smile on my face.**

**And just to address this one point, yes, Edward is immature and a bit selfish. But it's never too late to learn and grow. ;)**

**The next update will be in two weeks. Sorry for the longish wait, but I'll try my best to post a teaser or two on twitter in the mean time. I'm KelleyRachelle there. **

**Thanks again for reading! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Twilight and its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. I'm just playing around with them.**

**Lots of thanks to_ MelissaMargaret_ for making this pretty, and to _anhanninen_ and _xxluvCarlisleEsmexx_ for prereading.**

* * *

**EPOV**

I was clueless. Maybe more than clueless.

Littler girl turned and looked up at me. Her eyes filled with tears, and she started to cry.

I wasn't good with kids. I'd held my nephews all of five or six times between the two of them, and most of those times were forced.

But now littler girl was in my lap, and I didn't want her to cry. She should be happy since Mom had brought them inside and had given them new clothes. The million dollar question was how did _I_ make her happy.

"Hey, kid…it's okay," I said softly. I lifted my hand and placed it on her back, rubbing slowly. I'd seen Rosalie rub her boys' backs so I figured it was worth a try. "Don't cry now, okay? Your…_mom_ will be out soon." I guessed about their relation, but they sort of looked alike. Mom had said daughter earlier too, so maybe we weren't completely wrong.

"Uh…can you drink that juice? It's apple. Just please don't cry."

I continued rubbing her back, hoping for some magic to happen soon.

The combination of my efforts seemed to finally work. Her cries lessened enough for her to slowly lift the cup to her mouth. As she drank her juice, she stared. Just stared. At me. Her eyes kept their contact with mine in that creepy sort of demon way. Not that I thought the girl was a demon, but the unending eye contact was freaking me out.

She finally looked away and began scanning the room. Relieved, I sighed and attempted to relax in Mom's chair. My heart was racing, I assumed from the after effects of adrenaline. I'd been holding a kid for longer than a minute and I hadn't done any damage. There was a first time for everything, apparently.

Even though the littler girl had calmed a bit, I was still mentally begging Mom to come back or for the other girl to come out of the bathroom. Why she'd trusted me with her kid, I had no idea. I was still a stranger even though she knew my name and I'd given them some money. Maybe she was crazy. And the longer she took, the more chance I had to screw up. That would definitely put me on Mom's shit list, but I knew I was there already. I'd probably be there until the day I died.

Not two minutes later, the bathroom door opened, and my sigh of relief was even louder as Girl 1 rushed over to collect her little person. Her eyes darted around quickly, so I pointed over to the leather couch on the wall.

"You can sit," I offered, cringing as my voice made her jump. I didn't know why she was jumpy, but I worried about what would happen when I gave her the coffee. I wasn't cleaning up any spills this morning.

She looked from me to the couch a few times before nodding. "Thanks," she whispered as she sat on the edge of the couch. "Um...the towels are in the bathroom and so are our clothes. I didn't know what to do with them."

"Mom will know. You can ask her when she gets back." I slowly stood and carried the coffee over to her, holding it out for her to take. "Here's your coffee. I...uh...I made it how I like it. Some sugar and some creamer. It's okay if you don't like it. We have more."

She shook her head and cautiously reached for the cup. "I'm sure it's good. Please...you don't have to do that much stuff for us."

When her hand reached mine, I could tell it was much cleaner than before. Definitely an improvement. Her hand _was_ still like an icicle, so I was glad she quickly took the cup to shorten our contact.

The littler girl was watching us both with wide eyes, so I stepped back to sit at the desk. Those big brown eyes were just...creepy.

Girl 1 placed Girl 2 on her lap then took a sip of the coffee. Her eyes closed as she sighed, her lips curling just slightly. Inside, I gave myself a pat on the back. It looked like I did something right. Take that, Mom.

"This is really good," she said before taking another drink. "Thanks again. We'll be out of your way as soon as we finish these. We don't want to be pests."

As I was about to agree with her plan, Mom returned with her arms full of breakfast items and at least two blankets.

"You are no such thing," she insisted, face kind but serious. The face only a mother can pull off. The one that meant _I love you, but you'll listen to me if you know what's good for you_.

I was very familiar with the face.

"You'll stay with us until the end of the day," she continued. "And then we'll reassess the situation."

Apparently our morning good deed was lasting until the afternoon.

Awesome.

Girl 1's eyes widened as Mom laid the breakfast out on her desk and then went over to cover them with the blankets.

"There," she said as she tucked the blanket in on their sides. "How's that? Are you comfortable?"

"Yes," the girl responded in a whisper, nodding. "But you really don't have to do that much for us. We'll be out of the way soon."

Mom shook her head. "I checked the weather, and that storm won't be letting up anytime soon. Please let us take care of you for today. You both need to be warmed up and fed, and I'd love if you'd allow us the honors."

"But you don't know us," she protested. "You don't even know my name."

Gesturing for me to stand up, Mom came over and pulled the desk chair over to sit in front of the couch. Smiling, she patted the girl's knee. "Well, why don't we start there, darling. I'm Esme Cullen, so what is your name?"

The girl remained silent, biting her lip. I didn't understand what the big deal was. It was just her name.

"Um...Bella," she finally said, glancing up at Mom before looking back at the floor. "I'm Bella. And this is Lucy."

"Nice to meet you, Bella and Lucy. Such beautiful names." Mom reached her hand out to shake Bella's. "I'm so glad you're here with us today. It's scheduled to be a slow day, so you can keep me company. How old is Miss Lucy?"

I leaned against the desk, already bored with the small talk. Apparently Lucy was two years old and liked something called a _Dora_ - whatever that was. I tuned them out and reached for a cheese danish. Mom snapped at me before I could even get my hand on the pastry, somehow always knowing what I was doing.

"Edward," she sighed. "Those are for our guests. And you could be helpful and bring some over to them?"

Sure, it sounded like a question, but it really wasn't. So without another word, I grabbed one of the plates she'd brought up and filled it one of everything. I took it over to Girl 1...Bella...and handed it to her.

She accepted it with a smile, actually looking up at me. "Thank you, Edward," she whispered.

"Uh...you're welcome. Need anything else?"

She hesitated but then nodded. "A napkin?"

I searched the table eventually finding the napkins and took those over to her, too. Thinking my good deeds were _finally_ over, I returned to the desk and leaned back. Of course, my mother had something else in mind.

"Edward, can you meet me in the hallway?" she asked, gesturing toward the door before turning back to Bella. "Bella, we'll be right back, all right? You two can enjoy your breakfast for a few minutes in peace."

I followed Mom into the hallway, and she quietly shut the door behind her.

"What's up, Mom?"

She shook her head sadly. "Edward, there's no way I can send them back out into the cold. I just couldn't live with myself if I did. So I'm about to go call your father. I want to bring them home with us."

"But you just met them!" I protested. "She could be a psychopath or something. It's not like taking a stray dog or something home."

"Edward Anthony Cullen!" she whisper-yelled, glaring at me. "That's the second time today you've ignored your raising, and I won't have you do it again. You might be twenty-five but I know I still scare you. And you're definitely old enough to know better than to judge someone based on circumstances."

"But Mom...I'm not judging her. I'm just saying..."

"What you're saying is inaccurate. Were you listening in there? Bella's so passive, she couldn't hurt a fly. And she has a daughter in case you haven't noticed. Since you obviously claim to be an expert you tell me – do psychopath's usually care about children?"

I shrugged. I didn't know, but I did know that I wasn't ready to bring these girls home with us. What if they stole something? Or just wanted to use us for our money and name? I'd had too many girls proposition me just because I was a Cullen, so I knew it could happen.

"And another thing," Mom continued. "Did you hear sweet Lucy's cough? I want your father to examine her because it doesn't sound good. If they've been out in the cold for any length of time, it could have made whatever's wrong that much worse."

I hadn't noticed any cough, but I nodded. There was no way I was going to win this one. Two homeless girls were coming home with us today.

Unless...

"Well, what if Dad says no?"

She gave me a pointed look. "He won't say no. Stop trying to get out of this. Bella and Lucy will be coming home with us today. Now I just need to find Alice to ask her –"

"Ask me what?" I heard Alice ask, right before she stepped up beside Mom.

I rolled my eyes. She was too much like Mom sometimes. And knowing Alice, she'd be on her side without even giving me a chance to explain my point of view. But that was standard for her. Since I was the youngest, she was the self proclaimed boss of me, and since she was the only girl, she got away with way more than us boys. Not that she used it for good anymore. No, now she had to agree with everything Mom said.

"Alice," Mom said, smiling. "Where were you, dear?"

"Sorry I'm late. The snow is picking up, so traffic wasn't the best. And I stopped for some Starbucks. Now what did you want to ask me?"

"I need you to find some things for me. Clothes, shoes, a car seat...probably a lot more than that."

As she explained the whole story to Alice, I took a step back and assumed my position against the wall. Glancing at my watch, I sighed. It wasn't even close to lunch yet. The day was dragging.

The next thing I knew, I was being punched in the arm.

"What the hell, Alice?" I stood up straight, rubbing my arm. "What was that for?"

"Charity jar, Edward. And that's for being a moron. Those girls need somewhere to go, and there's nothing wrong with them coming home with us. Get your head out of your butt."

"Fine, fine," I mumbled. "Just don't blame me if something crazy happens."

"Nothing crazy will happen, son," Mom assured me. "They're two innocent girls, and we're going to help them. I'm going to call your father now and probably make a decision about the weather. If it's supposed to get any worse, we might leave here early just in case."

Well, at least that was one good thing I might get out of this crazy day. I didn't want to be here any longer than necessary today. There was no way to know what else I'd do wrong or get in trouble for.

As Mom headed down the hallway, Alice turned toward the door. When she started to open it, I placed my arm out to stop here.

"Wait, Alice. These girls are scared, so keep your Starbucks energy level down."

She scoffed. "_I _know how to handle myself delicate situations. Unlike _you_." She went to punch me again, but this time, I was fast enough to move away. "Thank you for moving," she said with a sweet smile, entering the room before I could caution her again.

Alice was good. And hopefully she wouldn't be too much for them to handle. I might not have wanted the girls to come home with us, but that didn't mean I wanted Alice to scare them back to the street.

With a deep breath, I followed my sister into the room. Maybe I'd actually be the one to fix things now.

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**A/N: Thank you all so much for reading! I'm still blown away by your sweet words and support. It really means so much. **

**I'm so sorry I didn't get to reply to many reviews this time. I've had a crazy school week, and I figured an earlier-than-planned updated would be appreciated more than a review reply. Sorry if I was wrong. ;)**

**Next update will be in two weeks, and I'll try to post a teaser on twitter next week.**

**Thanks again for reading! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Twilight and its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. I'm just playing around with them.**

**Lots of thanks to_ MelissaMargaret_ for making this pretty, and to _anhanninen_ and _xxluvCarlisleEsmexx_ for prereading.**

**This is a shorter chapter, but hopefully the surprise POV makes up for it. ;)**

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**BPOV**

"Eat just a little more," I said softly, pushing the rest of my muffin toward Lucy.

She was too small. I knew she was too small, but I'd been doing whatever I could to get her the best food. I was small too, but I didn't care. Lucy was all that mattered.

But she shook her head, pushing the muffin back to me. "Juice, Mama?"

I reached down beside my feet and grabbed her cup, being careful not to spill as I handed it to her.

Mrs. Cullen had been so nice to us today. No one had ever been this nice to us before. Not lately anyway. When people saw us, I knew they assumed the worst which was why I tried to not let anyone see. Lucy was all I had, and there was no way I'd let anyone take her away.

But Edward...he saw us and gave me money. I was always too afraid to beg for anything, but he just gave it to me. And now Mrs. Cullen was letting us stay in her office instead of out in the wind and snow. Except for the day when Lucy was born, this was the best day ever.

I knew it wouldn't last long though. Eventually, I'd need to find my way back to the shelter to make sure we'd have a place to sleep tonight. There was no way I was letting Lucy sleep outside. Her cough had been getting worse over the last few days, and I was worried. The cough syrup I bought with Edward's money wasn't helping either.

Maybe Mrs. Cullen would know what to do, but she wasn't back yet. I didn't know what they were doing. I just hoped they weren't really calling the police or someone like that to take my baby away. I wouldn't be able to escape without being seen. I held Lucy a little tighter as she picked at the pieces of muffin. That was all I could do.

When the door opened, I braced myself for whatever Mrs. Cullen would say next. But it wasn't Mrs. Cullen who came into the room. Edward was behind another lady, and she was smiling at me with her bright white teeth showing.

Lucy whimpered and coughed as she hid her face against me.

"You don't have to be afraid," the lady said, still smiling. "I'm Alice Cullen, and you just call me Alice. And you're Bella and Lucy?"

I nodded, not finding any words.

Alice Cullen. She was in Edward's family, too. I studied her as she kept smiling at me. Her eyes were the same, I decided. Pretty and green like Edward and Mrs. Cullen. And the rest of her face looked a lot like Mrs. Cullen, too. But instead of light brown hair, hers was dark. It was very pretty, and I wished my hair could look that nice.

"We're happy to have you here," Alice said. She sat in the empty chair and scooted closer. "Mom's gone to check the weather because the storm is getting worse. We might be leaving early today."

I nodded, turning my head so she wouldn't see how sad I was. It was one thing to think about having to go back outside. Actually having to do it soon was different. My stomach felt like it had big lumps in it. I didn't like it.

"Is it okay if Edward and I keep you company?" she asked.

Swallowing, I looked up and searched the room for Edward. He was leaning against a different wall now, and he gave me a little wave when he caught my eyes. I smiled, quickly turning to Alice. He made my stomach feel like it had swirly things in it, and I wasn't sure if I liked that or not.

"That's okay with me," I finally said. "But you don't have to. Your family's doesn't have to help us this much."

"But we really want to," she insisted. "It'll be nice to have another girl around. I'm outnumbered here, not counting Mom. Emmett, Edward, and Jasper like to gang up on me."

"We do not," Edward mumbled, shaking his head.

"Who are Emmett and Jasper?" I asked before I can stop myself. "Sorry...I didn't mean to..."

"No, no." Alice shook her head. "You can ask whatever you want. Emmett is my oldest brother. He works here too, in landscape. And Jasper is my husband. He handles most of the marketing and all of that other business-y stuff." She shrugged. "I don't really know how that works. I take care of web design and some fashion design on the side. You know, the fun stuff."

I _didn't_ know, but I smiled and nodded like I did. Their family seemed so...big. All Lucy and I had was each other.

Alice seemed to be waiting for a response, so I swallowed again and cleared my throat. "That sounds nice."

"It is," she agreed with another wide smile. "It's annoying sometimes, but overall, I love working here."

"You have good food."

"Thanks," she giggled. "I hope they got you enough to eat. Would Lucy like anything different?"

I looked at Lucy, and she was still picking at the muffin. Not much was getting in her mouth, but she was coughing all the time. I kissed her forehead and shook my head. "No, she's...um...not feeling real good right now," I confessed. "I bought some cough syrup, but I don't think it's working."

"Oh, poor baby." Alice frowned and leaned forward to be closer to Lucy. "I'm sorry you don't feel good, sweetheart." Lucy pressed herself closer to me and didn't respond, but it didn't seem to bother Alice. "We can ask Mom what to do when she gets back," she suggested. "I don't know much about kids, but Mom definitely does. So does Dad. He's a pediatrician."

"Pediatrician?"

"A doctor for kids," she explained. "He's really good, too. The kids all love him."

My eyes widened. I knew what a pediatrician was. A doctor. Those were important. What if the doctor called the police? If Lucy was sick, I could probably be arrested because it was my fault. I had her outside for the past two days, and that had to be why. I was trying the best I knew how, but I just kept failing.

Closing my eyes, I held on to Lucy as tightly as I dared. This wasn't the best day ever anymore. I could hear Alice still talking, but I couldn't understand her. Nothing mattered except my precious baby.

Everything was fuzzy, until I felt a hand on my arm.

"Bella...Bella, darling, you're all right. Take some deep breaths for me, okay? You're fine. I promise we won't hurt you."

I shook my head, trying to get away from whoever was touching me, but I couldn't move anything other than my head.

But suddenly, Lucy was being taken from my arms, and I gasped as my eyes popped open. "No!" I protested. "Don't take her. Please don't. Please."

I quickly looked around, seeing that it was Edward who had Lucy. But instead of leaving, he sat beside me on the couch. "I'm not taking her," he said. "But you need to breathe."

"Breathe?" I asked, then felt the tightness in my chest. I was gasping and couldn't seem to stop.

"Bella." I turned to the voice this time, finding the worried face of Mrs. Cullen. "Sweetheart, can you breathe for me now? In and out…slowly. Watch how I'm breathing."

Watching her chest, I tried to copy the movements until finally, I succeeded. My chest still hurt, but it wasn't as tight. Now I was tired.

Before I knew it, Mrs. Cullen had her arm wrapped around my shoulder as she pulled me to lean against her. I had no energy to fight her, so I relaxed.

"I'm sorry if we've upset or scared you," Mrs. Cullen said softly, running her hand down my hair. "We don't mean to. And I promise...I _promise_ that no one is going to take Lucy from you. It's not even in our minds _at all_."

"Yeah, I only have her now because you couldn't breathe," Edward added. I glanced over and was surprised to see Lucy so calm in his lap. He didn't look calm, but at least she did.

"Can you believe us?" Mrs. Cullen asked.

"Yes," I whispered, relaxing just slightly. I believed them...for now.

"Thank you, Bella," she said, patting my arm. "Now, I have some news. The weather appears to just be getting worse, so we'll be heading home before lunch. And I'm hoping you'll come with us." Immediately, I started shaking my head, but she spoke again before I had a chance. "Just listen to my offer. Please. We have more than enough space for you and Lucy, and I already talked to my husband. He agrees that we'd be so happy to have you. It'll be warm and dry, and hopefully comfortable enough for you."

"But we've taken so much."

"You can't _take_ what's given to you," she said simply. "And we're giving this, but I do want to request one thing."

"What's that?" I asked cautiously.

"Well, as Alice told you, my husband is a pediatrician, and he'd like to have a quick look at Lucy. I know she's been coughing, and I'm sure he'll know how to help her. Then she'll feel better, and the two of you can enjoy your time with us. What do you say?"

I didn't know what to say. The offer sounded too good to be true. Mrs. Cullen would let us stay at her house, and the only thing we had to do in return was let her husband look at Lucy? And he'd make her feel better?

I turned my head to look at Lucy again. She gave me a small smile and reached for my hand. I offered mine, and she held two of my fingers tightly as she leaned against Edward's chest.

Lucy trusted him, and I was pretty sure I did too. He hadn't tried to take her while I was in the bathroom. I'd hated lying to the people I'd just met; Lucy really didn't mind small spaces all that much. I'd just needed a few minutes to try to catch my thoughts and took a chance with Edward. And he didn't do anything bad. And Mrs. Cullen...she'd been so nice so far. Alice too. Maybe there wasn't much of a choice to be made.

Taking a deep breath, I nodded. "Okay, Mrs. Cullen. We'll go. I just want Lucy to get better. Please help her."

"We will, darling," Mrs. Cullen promised. "You won't regret this. And please...call me Esme."

"Thank you, Esme," I said, turning to smile at her. "Thank you for everything."

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**A/N: When I first started writing, I planned for this to be all Edward's POV. But then Bella decided she wanted to talk too. I hope you enjoyed this short first visit into her head. **

**Thank you guys sooo much for being patient with me. School is insane, but all of your sweet reviews definitely make my days better.**

**I'll try my best to not fail at posting a teaser on twitter this time. I'm KelleyRachelle there.**

**Thanks again for reading! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Twilight and its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. I'm just playing around with them.**

**Lots of thanks to_ MelissaMargaret_ for making this pretty, and to _anhanninen_ and _xxluvCarlisleEsmexx_ for prereading.**

* * *

**EPOV**

"Where'd Alice go?" I asked.

She had disappeared when Bella started panicking, leaving me to hold the kid, and she wasn't back yet.

"She went to search Emmett's car," Mom said. "We need a car seat for Miss Lucy. And she also went to start spreading the news that we're all leaving soon. There's no need for anyone to risk their lives, especially on a slow day. But you might want to go take care of any pressing things now."

I nodded and moved to stand up. The kid held tightly to my arm, making it nearly impossible. "You can sit with your mom now," I told her. "I have some work to do."

"I think she likes you," Bella said, biting her lip as she smiled. "Luce, come sit with me so he can go."

"I'll be back soon," I told her as I passed her over. I wasn't sure why I felt the need to assure this little person, but for some reason, I didn't want her to be sad. She was okay for a little girl, I guessed. Okay enough for one that coughed on my arm every few seconds.

With a wave, I high-tailed it out of Mom's office, hoping for some peace and quiet. Once in my office, I closed the door and sighed in relief as I sat down in my chair. Finally, after all of the crazy I'd had to deal with, now I could rest.

Scrolling through my email, I decided which ones were priority and which could wait. Slow day didn't even accurately describe today because I was done in less than an hour. I made it through most of the handwritten memos on my desk, too. Well, at least the ones I could see.

I was feeling proud of myself and finally over the stressful morning when someone knocked on my door and entered before I could even answer.

"Hey, Edward, we're leaving in thirty," Alice informed me. "But Mom wants to see you in her office first."

"Are _you_ coming to the house, too?"

She put her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes. "Yes, brother dear. Mom wants us all there until they know more about the weather tonight."

"Everyone being there is going to scare Bella," I said seriously. "You saw what happened just when you said that Dad is a doctor. Our whole family is going to send her into a coma or something."

"So we'll make ourselves scarce." She shrugged. "No one is going to purposefully upset either one of them. And they'll have time to get used to us because I don't think Mom is ever letting them go now."

She turned and left before I could respond, but really, I had nothing to say. So Mom wanted to add a possible psychopath to our family. She could do what she wanted, but I knew I was locking my room tonight.

I finished up my work, shutting down my computer before grabbing my coat and heading back to Mom's office. She was still where I'd left her, sitting on the couch with her arm around Bella. Bella looked a whole lot calmer, though her eyes still shot to me as soon as I walked into the room.

"Should I go ahead and leave?" I asked.

Mom turned to me, thought for a second, and nodded. "You can, but I need you to stop at the store for me. I'll email you the list, and we'll see you at home soon, okay? Love you, son."

"Love you too," I muttered, giving the girls a wave.

I headed to my car and managed to make it to the store without any asshole drivers pissing me off. Once I parked, I checked my email.

"What the..." Mom's list was nearly a page long. "I'm not the damn grocery shopper, Mom. This is not a few things."

I muttered to myself as I braved the snow and wind to enter the store. I had to get a cart - _a fucking cart_ - because there was no way I could carry everything with only two arms.

Most of the list was easy enough to find. Bread, peanut butter, fresh food...but then, Mom got into the brand names. I had no idea food could have so many brands. I just wanted some crackers! Why did I need to weed through all these different kinds?

Somehow, I managed to find everything - including some sort of fancy hot chocolate - except one item. Mom wanted me to find something _Dora_ for Lucy. I still didn't know what _Dora_ was, so I found an empty spot in the frozen food and googled.

What the hell? A little Hispanic kid who hangs out with a monkey? That was...unsanitary. I shook my head, wondering who actually liked this.

I was tempted to head home without looking and telling Mom that they didn't have anything. But I just couldn't. That littler girl liked me...or something like that. And I'd might as well try to find this Dora person for her.

Searching through every aisle, I tried to find what I could. After another half an hour, I managed to find cereal, yogurt, a cup, and a creepy little doll version of this Dora chick. For some reason, I hoped Lucy would like this stuff. I'd tried my best.

After paying for everything, I loaded everything into the car, fighting the wind and snow in the process. It was obvious that the weather was getting worse, and I wanted this to mean that we wouldn't have work for a few days. I'd been outside enough today to last me a year.

The drive home was uneventful, except for the increasing snow, and I expected everyone to have beaten me home. I was wrong though. Dad was alone in the kitchen when I walked inside with the bags - all seven of them.

"Couldn't have made another trip, son?" he asked, eyebrow raised.

"Nope. Too cold. I've had enough of that today."

"Ahh." He nodded and started helping me unload the bags. "I heard you had an...adventure outside today."

I snorted. "Yeah. Adventure. And I guess you heard that Mom's bringing a possible psychopath home? Where are they anyway?"

"Your mother stopped to get _Bella_ a few necessities to last the rest of the week. I really hope you're not referring to her as a psychopath in front of her face."

"Well...it's not like we know she's not."

"This is true," he agreed. "But, she has a little girl who she obviously cares about, so says your mother. From my limited experience, most 'psychopaths' as you like to call them, aren't capable of much caring. So I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt and open our home to her."

"Suit yourself," I muttered.

We finished putting the food away in silence, and Dad gave me a strange look when he saw all the stuff for Lucy. I just shrugged, not feeling like explaining myself. Once everything was put away, I turned toward the hallway, ready to head to my room for the rest of...however long I could get away with it.

But of course, luck was not on my side today, and everyone piled into the kitchen before I could escape. At least I thought it was everyone, but after resolving myself to my fate and turning around, I noticed that Emmett and his family were still missing. Bella, however, was trying her best to back up the way she came in until I caught her eye.

I motioned for her to follow me, and miraculously, we left the kitchen without anyone stopping us. Even if she was a psychopath, I wasn't going to wish my whole family on her at one time. They overwhelmed _me_ sometimes.

I led her down the hallway, only going far enough to have a little bit of quiet. Mom probably had plans for where they'd be sleeping or what they were supposed to be doing now, so I didn't want her to think I kidnapped them or something.

"You have a uh...really nice house," Bella said softly.

"It's okay I guess." I shrugged. It was a house. I didn't have any complaints.

"It's the nicest place I've ever been. Thank you. For letting us stay here. We'll stay out of the way and leave as soon as we can."

"Don't count on that. I think Mom's keeping you," I informed her.

She looked down and held Lucy closer to her shoulder. "Esme's been so nice to us. I don't even know how to thank her."

Mom suddenly appeared, wrapping her arm around Bella. She jumped in surprise but still when she saw who it was.

"Sweetheart, you don't have to thank us." When Bella started to protest, she silenced her with a kiss on her temple. "No, really. Carlisle and I are so happy to have you. So thank us by staying for a while and letting us take care of both of you."

Bella chewed on her lip, finally nodding. "Okay. Can you...um make Lucy's cough go away? I think it's getting worse."

Mom nodded. "We'll have her good as new as soon as we can," she promised. "How about Edward shows you the way to the family room, and Carlisle and I will meet you there."

It sounded like a suggestion but I knew it wasn't. So with a sigh, I motioned for Bella to follow me and led her downstairs.

The silence weirded me out a little so I decided to talk as I went. "So...this is our family room. We have games and movies and TV and stuff. This is where we'll probably be most of the time because it's the only room that holds us all. Comfortably anyway."

"Are there more of you?" she asked, eyes wide again as she looked around the room.

"There'll be four more coming. Besides everyone in the kitchen."

"And everyone's staying here?"

I nodded and gestured to the couch for her to sit down. "Yeah. Mom likes us all together during stuff like this. I don't think she realizes we're all adults."

Bella sat down and looked up at me. "It must be nice. Having someone care about you that much."

Her big, brown eyes were making me uncomfortable. Not as uncomfortable as her kid made me, but uncomfortable enough. "Yeah, I guess. That's just how it's always been."

I didn't know what else to say, so I sat down on the other couch and made myself look busy with the TV remote as Bella whispered to Lucy. The kid was still coughing and making little whining noises. I really hoped Dad could help her, if only to give us some peace and quiet.

A few minutes later, Mom and Dad came down the stairs. Dad had his doctor bag with him, or whatever it was called. I just knew it had all of his supplies he kept at home for emergencies.

Mom went over and sat by Bella, reaching over to hold her hand. "Bella, this is my husband, Carlisle. He takes care of children every day, so he's going to do everything he can to help Lucy, okay?"

"Will he call the police?" Bella said, so softly that I almost didn't hear it.

Dad heard it, though, and he immediately stopped what he was doing and sat beside Bella. "Sweetheart, none of us will be calling the police, least of all me. You and your daughter are guests in our home because we want you here, not because we're going to turn you in for _any_ reason. You're safe now."

Something he said made Bella start crying, so mom guided her head to her shoulder. Lucy started crying too, and the whole thing was making me uncomfortable. I started to stand to finally make my escape, but Dad saw me and shook his head. Great. I had to witness all these...emotions.

Thankfully, Bella calmed quickly and mumbled apologies which Mom brushed off. After all the tears had been dried, Dad pulled out his stethoscope.

"Is it okay if I examine Lucy?" he asked Bella. "Nothing I do right now is going to hurt her at all."

Bella nodded and scooted closer to Mom before turning Lucy around in her lap so Dad could reach her. Dad knelt in the floor in front of them and slowly approached.

I'd never seen my dad in action before, but it sort of fascinated me and I couldn't look away.

The closer he got, the farther Lucy leaned into Bella. She was clearly scared to death. Even _I _could tell that much. Dad was persistent though, not letting it bother him while somehow still caring. He was good at this.

Bella was scared too, and now all of this emotion was rubbing off on me. The family room was like a big ball of anxiety, and I was ready for it to end.

"All right, Miss Lucy," Dad said softly, smiling. "Can I have a quick listen to your breathing? Then we'll go find you a nice place to rest with Mama. Okay?"

She was not okay with this plan at all, choosing instead to hide her face against Bella's shirt.

That didn't stop him. He took his stethoscope from around his neck and let the end of it rest in his palm before offering it to Lucy.

"See, sweet pea? It won't hurt you at all. But what about if I listen to Mama first?"

Lucy looked back at Dad, focusing on his hand and then looking up at Bella. Bella smiled at her which made Lucy relax. Dad took that as his cue to move in, and he went through the motions of listening to Bella breathe. I didn't think he was really paying attention, but it looked real enough.

"It doesn't hurt, Luce," Bella said softly, kissing the top her head head. "Dr. Carlisle won't hurt you, and I'm right here."

When Lucy finally agreed with a short nod, Dad didn't waste any time. He placed his stethoscope on the front of her chest, moving it around every few seconds.

"That's a good girl," he praised softly. "You're doing so good. Let's listen to the back now."

Listening to her back took the same amount of time, and then I thought he was finished - until he pulled a little flashlight out of his bag.

"Can I look in your mouth?" he asked, but Lucy shook her head. "Please? Just like this."

He opened his mouth wide like he wanted from her, and I failed to hide my snort. Mom gave me a look, but I didn't care. That shit was funny.

Dad's acting didn't make Lucy any more willing, but he was able to get a quick look between her coughs. I guess he saw whatever he needed to see because he put everything back in his bag and sat back on the couch.

"What do you think it is, Carlisle?" Mom asked.

"I can't be positive without a chest x-ray, but I'm pretty sure it's pneumonia."

I didn't know much about medicine, but that sounded serious.

"What's that?" Bella asked nervously. "Can she get better?"

"It's an infection," Dad explained, gently patting Bella's hand. "In her lungs. Sometimes you breathe in bad germs and they gets way down in the lungs and fluid starts to stay there. It's makes it harder to breathe with all that fluid, and that's what causing the cough as well. Has she had a stuffy nose in the last week?"

Bella nodded as she started to cry again. "She did a few days ago but...but I thought it was just from being in the cold! Sorry. I'm sorry I was bad. So sorry. I didn't...I didn't mean to do this to her. Please. _Please_."

I didn't know what she was begging for, but no one asked any questions as Mom and Dad both shushed her and tried to comfort her. Once again, I wanted to run upstairs but this time, I couldn't move. I couldn't _not_ see what they were going to do.

"Bella," Dad said after her crying had died down a little. "Bella, listen to me. This is _not_ your fault. Do you hear me?" He didn't wait for her to respond before continuing. "Do you know how many children I've had come in this week alone with pneumonia like this? Seven. Seven children."

"Seven?" Bella repeated, reaching up to dry her eyes. "How did they get sick?"

"The same way Lucy did. Not from being cold, from things floating in the air. Most of us have no problem with them, but for little ones, it's sometimes more difficult for their bodies to fight these things off. But listen - we're going to help her get better. I promise. Can you believe me?"

"Okay," Bella whispered after a few seconds. "What do we do?"

"That's what I'm going to take care of now," Dad said, patting her leg and standing up. "I'm hoping to find some medicine that will take care of this really fast, so I'm going to talk to Rosalie to see what she thinks."

"Rosalie, my daughter-in-love, is a nurse," Mom explained, sensing Bella's confusion. "With Carlisle and Rose helping Lucy, she'll be better in no time. But I do need to go call her to see when they think they'll be here. Would you like Edward to stay with you?"

Before I could make an excuse, Bella nodded. It looked like I was stuck down here for a while.

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**A/N: Thank you all so, so much for the reviews and alerts! You guys are seriously amazing. I wasn't supposed to update until Thursday but I've had an insane week so far (and it's only Tuesday) so I figured I'd reward myself and everyone else, lol.**

**Also, Finding Serendipity has been nominated for fic of the week at The Lemonade Stand and I am so excited and grateful. Voting is open until tomorrow, and I'd really appreciate a vote. www . tehlemonadestand . net.**

**Thank you all so much for reading, and I'll try to post a twitter teaser next week! =)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Twilight and its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. I'm just playing around with them.**

**Lots of thanks to_ MelissaMargaret_ for making this pretty, and to _anhanninen_ and _xxluvCarlisleEsmexx_ for prereading**

* * *

**BPOV**

Lucy was really, really sick. And even though Dr. Carlisle had said that it wasn't my fault, nothing could stop me from feeling like it was.

I hugged Lucy tighter as Esme and Dr. Carlisle walked upstairs. She was afraid of them, but when only Edward was in the room with us, we could both relax. Edward was nice to us, and Lucy liked him as much as I did. The whole Cullen family was nice so far, but there was something different about Edward. I didn't trust just anyone, but I couldn't imagine him doing something to hurt us. He was kind of weird, but that was okay.

"Mama," Lucy whispered, pushing her head against my neck. "Potty."

"Oh." How was I going to ask Edward about a bathroom? This was so embarrassing. "Um...Edward?" I asked timidly.

He dropped the remote in his hands and looked over at me. "Yeah?"

"Lucy needs...well, would it be okay...could we use your bathroom?"

For some reason, my question made his shoulders drop. "Sure," he replied, turning to point at a door on the other side of the large room. "It's right over there."

"Thank you." He simply nodded and looked at the TV as I stood with Lucy and carried her across the room.

When I opened the door and turned on the light, I was surprised at how pretty the bathroom was. Not that I should have been. The Cullens' whole house was prettier than anything I'd ever seen before. But the bathroom was all blues and whites and clean - so clean. Even Lucy was interested in looking around, but it wasn't the colors that she noticed.

"Duck, Mama," she said, pointing to the bathtub as I pulled her pants and underwear down.

I looked over, seeing a collection of yellow rubber ducks. "That is a duck. Good job, baby." I helped her up to sit on the toilet, keeping my hands under her arms so she wouldn't fall in. She was so small, and I knew there had to be an easier way to do this, but I wasn't sure what it was. I'd gladly hold her up since this was so much cheaper than buying diapers.

Once she was finished, I helped her with her clothes and with washing her hands. We didn't get to take our time in a bathroom very much, so I made sure we took full advantage.

As I took care of myself, Lucy quietly explored the small room. Her coughing still made me sad, but I hoped Dr. Carlisle was telling the truth about making her better. Already, she seemed happier than when we were spending the day outside. She was so uncomfortable that she couldn't stop crying, no matter how much I sang or told her stories. But here she wasn't as sad.

"Mama, duck go quack quack," she informed me as I washed my hands.

I smiled and nodded. "That's right. Ducks say quack. What does a chicken say?"

"Bock bock!" she exclaimed, only to end up coughing.

I picked her up and patted her back, frowning as she whined. "You'll feel better soon, baby girl," I promised.

"Eddard?"

I moved her back so I could see her face. Her big brown eyes looked so hopeful. "You want to see Edward?"

"Mmhmm." She nodded and went back to hugging my neck.

"Do you like Edward?" I whispered, kissing her head as I checked to make sure we hadn't made a mess, and then opened the door.

She nodded again, not saying anything else.

Edward hadn't moved while we were in the bathroom, and though I wasn't sure if he wanted us close to him, I sat on the couch he was sitting on instead of the one we were on before. Lucy wanted to see him, and I didn't want to stop her.

The TV was on now, and I watched as Edward flipped through the channels. It had been a while since we'd had a TV to watch, and never one this big. It was probably taller than me. It probably cost more money than I had ever seen, too.

When Edward finally stopped on a channel, I couldn't help my smile.

"Lucy," I whispered to her, nudging her face away from my neck. "Look. It's your name show." I wasn't sure if she remembered or not, but as soon as she looked, she smiled with me.

"Do you guys like this show?" Edward's voiced surprised me, and I jumped slightly. He was watching us with a questioning expression.

"We used to. I...really like it. That's where I got the name Lucy."

"_I Love Lucy_," he muttered, maybe to himself...I wasn't sure. "Rose is going to love you then. She loves all these old shows."

"Do you like them?" I asked before I could stop myself. I didn't know why it mattered, but I wanted to know what he thought.

"They're all right," he said with a shrug. "This one's tolerable. Lucy's a...uh _cute _name. Better than Ethel or Fred."

I giggled, relieved that he _did_ know the show.

We sat and watched in silence. Lucy stayed in my lap, but I could tell she was thinking about something. She had little wrinkles in her forehead, and she sucked on her top lip. As I was about to ask her what she needed, she leaned out of my lap and slowly crawled over to Edward. Sitting beside him, she said nothing and just leaned against his side.

Edward looked down at her, also not saying anything.

"I'm sorry if she's bothering you," I said softly. "I can move her if she's in your way."

"No, it's fine," he said. "Does she want me to hold her or something?"

I wondered why he didn't just ask her. Sure, she was only two years old, but I made sure she was smart. I might not have been, but I wanted Lucy to be.

"Luce, do you want Edward to hold you?" I asked her for him, and she reached her arms toward him. "I guess she does."

"Oh. She understands?" He slowly lifted her to his lap, and she moved to sit so she was still facing me. Her smile was small, but it was there, and that made me very happy.

"She knows a lot," I defended. "Can you tell Edward what you saw in the bathroom?"

Lucy titled her head back so she could see him. "Duck, Eddard. Duck go quack."

"What color is the duck?" I asked.

"Lellow," she answered without hesitation. "Lellow duck, Eddard."

"Oh. We have a yellow duck? In the bathroom? When did that happen?"

I giggled again at how confused he sounded. "I think they're toys. Like for playing in the bathtub. Are they yours?"

He laughed this time, shaking his head. "Nah. Not mine. My bathroom's upstairs, and I don't have any animals in it. I guess those are Seth and Brady's. My nephews."

I tried to work it out in my head. Edward had a sister named Alice and a brother named Emmett. So the two boys belonged to one of them. Or maybe they each had one. I didn't know anything about little boys.

"You'll meet them soon," Edward continued. "They're Rose and Em's kids. They're over here a lot, I think."

If he lived here, why didn't he know? Maybe because their house was so big. Part of me wanted to explore and see more things. But I didn't know how long we'd be here and I liked sitting with Edward, even when we were quiet. For the first time in a long time, I could just sit and not worry. At least for a few minutes.

We were left alone for a whole episode of I Love Lucy and part of another one, but then Esme came back. She smiled at us and sat beside me, wrapping her arm around my shoulders.

"Lunch will be ready soon," she said, hugging me close. It wasn't something anyone had ever done before her, but I liked it. "It's not much, but I thought some hot chicken noodle soup and grilled cheese sandwiches would be perfect for this weather. But if you or Lucy want something else, it's no problem."

"Soup is fine," I assured her. "Thank you so much for the food and letting us stay here."

"It's absolutely no problem," she said for maybe the third time. "It looks like you'll be with us for a while, and I'm so glad."

"Weather bad?" Edward asked, leaning over to look at Esme.

"Looks like it will be. They're predicting a blizzard, a fairly serious one at that. I sent out an email to everyone because it looks like we won't be going into the office for a week or so."

This news seemed to make Edward happy, and he sat back with a smile.

But I didn't know what it meant for us.

"Um...Esme? What will we do during the blizzard? What is that?"

"It's a big snowstorm," she explained. "It's possible we'll lose power or other things and probably won't be able to leave the house for a while, but we'll be fine. We have enough groceries to get us through and a generator. So you and Lucy will stay right here with us, and we'll enjoy being snowed in."

Esme smiled, and I tried to smile back but it sounded scary to me. No way to leave the house? That was _very_ scary.

"But don't you worry, sweetheart." Esme kissed the side of my head. "We're going to take good care of you both. And speaking of which, if you want to come up and have a hot shower before lunch, you're welcome to it. I have a room ready for you."

I gasped. "A room? For us?"

"Of course! It's a queen sized bed, so hopefully there's enough room for you and Lucy. We can get her her own bed after the storm passes, if she wants."

I was speechless and frozen. Even if I'd had words, they wouldn't have been able to come out. Maybe the Cullens were angels. Why else would they keep doing nice things for us? Before I could question anything, Esme was standing up and grabbing my hand, tugging gently.

"Come on upstairs and I'll show you. You too, Edward and Lucy."

As soon as I stood, Lucy was scrambling to get to me, so I took her into my arms before following Esme up the stairs. We went a different way than how we came in, this time going up another set of stairs.

Esme led us to a room, and I wasn't surprised to see that this one was beautiful. The large bed looked like a cloud with a fluffy white blanket covering it. There were plenty of pillow on it too, brown and purple ones. The whole room had white, brown, and purple things, and I couldn't decide where to look first. It was just...whoa.

"So what do you think?" Esme asked, fluffing one of the pillows. "I hope this room is okay. It has its own bathroom, and I made sure it was stocked with everything I could think of. But please let me know if there's anything you need. I'm more than happy to get it for you, as is everyone else in the family."

"But this is...so much." I shook my head, still not understanding. "You really don't have to do this much, Mrs...Esme. Really. We can just sleep on a couch downstairs. It's more than enough for us."

Sitting on the end of the bed, she patted the spot beside her. I assumed she meant for me to sit there, so I did, and the bed felt just as soft as I expected.

"Do you know what makes me happy, Bella?" she asked softly.

Her questions surprised me, and I didn't know so I shook my head.

"Taking care of my family makes me happier than anything else. Sure, I love my job and all my volunteer work, but my family means the world to me. And while you're staying here with us, you and Lucy are part of my family. It makes me so happy to be able to take care of you, especially since I'm sure it's been awhile since someone did. Can you let me do that?"

Not knowing what else to do, I nodded.

"Good." She smiled, patting my knee as she stood. "Now that that's settled, you two take your time and relax in the shower or bath. I already placed some clothes on the counter for you. We'll be waiting for you downstairs, okay? Assuming I find where Edward went."

She left the room, closing the door halfway behind her. I sat still, not knowing what to do. Part of me wanted to cry for the fact that no one had ever been this nice to me before. How could someone I'd known for only a few hours treat me better than people I'd known for years? It didn't make sense. I knew I wasn't anything special. Lucy was very, very special, though. Maybe they were doing this for her. My poor baby girl deserved that more than anyone, so I would just have to accept this help, even if it confused me.

Lucy's eyes were wide as I stood up and slowly walked around the room. There was a soft chair in the corner and a dresser on one wall with a TV above it. The whole room was cozy, and I was tempted to try out the bed. Having a warm bath or shower was just more tempting.

The bathroom was just as pretty as the one downstairs, but with brown and green instead of blue. The bathtub was huge, but there weren't any ducks on the side of this one. A basket on the counter held anything we could ever need to get clean, and I couldn't wait to use them. The clothes were right where Esme promised as well, so once I was over the most of my shock, I didn't waste any time before running the water for a bath.

"Let's take a bath together, Lucy girl," I said as I helped her undress. "Does that sound good?"

"Bath?" she questioned, tilting her head. "All clean shower?"

Smiling sadly, I ran my hands over her hair and cupped her sweet face. "Yes, baby. It's a bath. It's different than a shower, but we'll still get all clean." There was so much she didn't know yet, so much she didn't remember seeing in her short life. If nothing else, i wanted her to learn as much as possible during our stay with the Cullens, just in case we never saw it again.

She was hesitant as I placed her in the rising water, but as soon as I was sitting with her, she calmed and enjoyed the warmth. I hoped we'd have a chance for more baths because I wanted to relax in the water, but this time, it was about getting clean.

Even though we'd taken a shower at the shelter yesterday, both Lucy and I were filthy. I shampooed each of our hair twice and made sure we washed all over until we smelled nice like the soap.

The bath tired Lucy out, so as soon as we were clean as we could get, I wrapped us in the soft towels to dry off. The bathtub was a mess, so while Lucy sat in her towel on the floor, I tried to make the bathroom look like it did before we came in. After that was done, I dressed in the soft clothes Esme had left and helped Lucy with the t-shirt and fuzzy pants that were for her. Once combing our hair was finished, I picked up my sleepy girl and attempted to find our way downstairs.

The further I walked down the stairs, the louder it became. I could hear Esme and maybe Alice, but there were new voices. Taking a deep breath, I talked myself into continuing. I could only hope the rest of the family would like us, too.

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**A/N: I'm so sorry this is late and for the lack of review replies. If you ever want to be overwhelmed with no free time, go to nursing school. ;)**

**Thank you all so, so much for the continued support! It really means the world to me. You guys are just the best.**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I'll try my best to post a twitter teaser next week. (I'm KelleyRachelle there.) **


	7. Chapter 7

**Twilight and its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. I'm just playing around with them.**

**Lots of thanks to_ MelissaMargaret_ for making this pretty, and to _anhanninen_ and _xxluvCarlisleEsmexx_ for prereading.**

* * *

**EPOV**

Mom might have wanted me to follow her upstairs, but somehow I managed to escape. It wasn't all that difficult since she was focused on showing Bella and Lucy around. I needed a few minutes to . . . think.

The kitchen smelled delicious, but Alice and Jasper were in there and I wasn't ready to face them. Going to my room wasn't an option with mom up there, so I wandered down the hallway, lost in my head.

I wasn't ready to say that Bella for sure _wasn't_ a psychopath, but it was seeming less likely by the minute. She was quiet, unlike the rest of my crazy family, and I actually didn't mind her company. _I Love Lucy_ wasn't my favorite show, but I still didn't change the channel. The show made Bella happy. I usually didn't care about things like that, but for some reason I did with her. After being so afraid and sad, she needed to laugh a little.

That littler girl – Lucy – still freaked me out, though. Why did she want to be around me so much? I didn't know how kids worked. I was surprised I hadn't broken her when she wanted to sit with me. She was so small. And cute . . . I guess. She knew what sound ducks made. I wondered if Seth or Brady could do that. It was a pretty cool skill.

"Edward."

I paused and looked up, seeing that I was in front of the door to Dad's office. I'd been too lost in my thoughts to even notice where I was going.

Dad motioned for me to come in the room as he sat his phone down, so I did, choosing a spot on the couch to sit.

"Where are Bella and Lucy?" he asked.

"Mom has them. Took them upstairs or something."

"Ah." He nodded. "She has a room all set up for them. I figured getting them clean and fed was a priority. Is Rose here yet?"

I shrugged. "I haven't seen her. What's taking her so long anyway?"

"I had to send her to the hospital to pick up the antibiotics," he explained, rubbing a hand over his face. "I want to treat Lucy as quickly as possible, but that requires IV meds. At least a dose or two anyway. I'll give her oral after that, but with the storm coming, it needs to be treated fast and effectively."

"How sick is she, Dad? Honestly."

"Honestly . . . she's not the worst case of pneumonia I've seen, but it's bad enough. Another couple of days and she would have been in serious danger."

That thought sobered me. Sure, she freaked me out a little, but I didn't want anything bad to happen to her. She was just a little girl.

"And the medicine will help?" I asked, needing to be sure.

"Yes," he nodded, "it should work very well, as will good food, hydration, and rest. Hopefully she'll be good as new in a few days."

I nodded, leaning back against the couch.

"You seem worried."

I snorted at his observation but couldn't argue. He said nothing for a few minutes, and I was thankful for the silence. My head was still swimming from everything that had happened. All because of those bagels.

"Thank you."

"What?" I asked, looking over at Dad in shock. "What are you thanking me for?"

Leaning back in his chair, he smiled. "For being there for Bella and Lucy. You seem to be the one they're the most comfortable around, and I think they're going to need you a lot in the next few days. This house is large but can get crowded very quickly with the whole family staying."

"I didn't do anything to make them like me," I protested. "They just . . . do, I guess."

"But you aren't pushing them away," he said. "For that, your mother and I are both grateful. These girls mean a lot to her already, and I can see the same happening to me. I don't think they'll be gone when the storm's over."

...

The smell of food eventually drew both Dad and I to the kitchen.

Alice was helping Mom put bowls and plates on the table, but Bella and Lucy were nowhere to be seen.

"When do we eat?" I asked, sitting down at my usual spot at the table.

"As soon as everyone's here," Mom said, giving me a look. "Don't even think about touching anything before that. And I'm putting Bella and Lucy between you and me. Do you think that will be all right?"

I shrugged. "How should I know?"

Mom hummed and went back to putting things on the table, and Alice laughed. If they meant something by that, I had no idea what it was.

Since I wasn't allowed to eat anything yet, I didn't want to be in the kitchen, but before I could leave, the kitchen exploded. Not really, but by how much noise Emmett and the kids made, it sounded like it was going to. After hugging and kissing everyone, Emmett made his way through the mob and came over to stand beside my chair.

"Congrats on being alive, dude," he said, punching my shoulder. "I thought for sure Mom would have killed you hours ago."

"I haven't fu . . . dged anything up yet," I quickly caught myself, noticing one of the boys staring at me. Brady maybe.

Emmett laughed. "Yeah, well, obviously you get pretty close sometimes. How are your girls?"

"_My_ girls? They aren't mine."

"Whatever you say. So how are they?"

"Okay I guess," I said, reaching up to scratch the back of my neck. "Dad thinks Lucy has pneumonia."

"That's pretty serious, right?" Em actually sounded concerned.

"Yeah. But Dad says the drugs he had Rose get will help fast. So that's good . . . or . . . whatever."

He nodded and picked Brady up, kissing him all over his face. Brady tried to get away as he laughed but wasn't successful. The sounds he was making attracted Seth, and then the three of them were laughing and tickling and kissing, and I wasn't sure what to think. Was this how I was supposed to act with a kid? Lucy seemed to like me and I didn't do all of that. Not knowing what else to do, I looked away, letting them having their . . . moment.

When I looked around the rest of the room, I spotted Bella and Lucy in the doorway. I knew the look on her face well because I was pretty sure that's the face I made around my whole family. The face of fear.

I stared at her, waiting for her to notice me. When she did, I patted the seat next to me, and she quickly came over and sat down.

"Welcome to the Cullen family," I said wryly.

She swallowed. "You have a big family."

"You mean _loud_ family?"

"That too," she agreed. "Are we late for lunch?"

I shook my head. "Mom wouldn't let us eat until everyone got here, but Rose and Em haven't been here long."

Mom, Dad, and Rose were still talking, so I tried clearing my throat a few times to get their attention. Nothing worked, but the longer we waited, the closer Bella scooted her chair toward mine. I glanced over at her, and that look was back on her face. The one that told me she wanted to hide or run away.

"Mom?" I finally called, then repeated it louder. "Mom, can we eat now?"

She finally stopped talking and looked over at me. Seeing Bella, she smiled and grabbed a plate of sandwiches, bringing them over to the table.

"Of course we can eat now." She came around and sat beside Bella, everyone else following her lead. "Did you have everything you needed, darling?" she asked Bella.

Bella nodded quickly. "Oh yes," she whispered. "It was more than enough. Thank you."

Mom smiled, not surprisingly. Bella was obviously her favorite today.

No one moved to fix their plates. They all decided to stare at Bella and Lucy instead, but even _I_ knew they didn't like that. Well, Lucy seemed almost asleep but I knew Bella didn't like it. So I took one for the team and reached for the sandwich plate, grabbing three before offering it to Bella. After she took two, I shoved the plate toward Emmett. He caught on and took it from me, and we did the same with the soup.

Once everyone had food, the staring stopped, but the loudness returned. This time, I didn't mind as much. The food was too good for me to care about anything other than eating until I couldn't eat anymore. I deserved it after the day I'd had.

When I was finished, I scooted my chair back from the table.

"Not yet, Edward," Mom said, not even looking at me. "Wait for everyone else to finish."

"Actually Esme, I need Edward to do something for me," Dad interrupted from across the table.

Mom didn't have anything to say to argue with him, so I stood and walked over to Dad.

"See the bag over there?" he asked, pointing to the counter. I looked over, spotting the bag and nodding. "Take that up to Bella's room. Rose thinks that'll be the best place."

I had no clue what he was talking about, but I was willing to do whatever I had to in order to get away from everyone. Sure, I loved them but in small doses.

Grabbing the bag, I headed upstairs. After laying it on the bed, I went to my room to change clothes. My bed was calling my name so as soon as I was comfortable, I lay down and closed my eyes. I could hardly believe that it had been about eight hours since I left my bed this morning. Eight hours later and we had two strange girls staying with us, possibly for a long time, knowing my mother.

Maybe I should have taken the day off, then all of this could have been avoided. But at least I didn't have to wake early for the next few days. I enjoyed my job. Numbers were one of the few things that made sense to me. But I kept telling Mom it would be a better idea to open the office at ten am. Or take the winter off for vacation. She was not on board with my plan, but I'd never stop trying to convince her.

Rolling over, I closed my eyes, feeling myself get closer to sleep. Just as I was about to drift off, there was a knock at my door.

"Edward, can you come help me?" Rose asked.

I sighed, rubbing my hands over my face as I rolled out of bed. I found Rosalie at my door with Bella and Lucy behind her.

"What do you need me for?"

"I'm about to start Lucy's IV, and Bella wants you to sit with us."

"Please?" Bella said softly, gripping Lucy tightly.

There was no way I could say no when she asked like that, so I followed them down the hall. As Rosalie set everything up, Bella sat on the edge of the bed, bouncing her leg over and over.

"I promise I'll be quick," Rose assured her. "Did you have any questions? Ask me anything you want."

"Will it hurt her?"

"It might, but it's only a few seconds and then it shouldn't hurt anymore. I'm hoping to find a good spot in her hand so it won't keep her from playing or doing anything like that."

"How many times have you done this?" I asked from my spot against the wall. I wasn't sure I trusted my sister in law to not hurt Lucy.

Rosalie laughed, shaking her head. "Too many times to count. And patients used to say I was the best, so I'm hoping Miss Lucy will think so, too. All right, let's get everyone comfortable."

She had Bella scoot back so she was sitting against all the pillows on the bed. I thought Lucy was asleep with her head against Bella's shoulder, but as soon as Bella turned her around, I saw I was wrong. Lucy was wide awake and looked like she wanted to run away, just like her mom. But when she saw me, she reached out and called my name.

"Do you want Edward to sit with you, sweetheart?" Rose asked, looking over at me. "I'm sure he would, and he can hold your other hand."

I rolled my eyes, not appreciating being volunteered for something, but I still went to sit beside them. It was awkward sitting beside Bella on a bed. I wasn't sure what to do with my arms or how close to sit, but when Lucy reached for my hand, I let her take it. And when Bella reached for my other hand, I did the same. I had no idea why, but it just seemed right. Hopefully it was the right thing to do. I didn't need any other screw ups for the day.

"Okay, sweetheart," Rose said, pulling her hair back in a stretchy rubber band thing before grabbing Lucy's hand. "Let's get the magic lotion off and we'll get this over real fast."

"Magic lotion?" I blurted. "What the hel . . . heck is that?"

"Magic lotion makes owwies not hurt," Rosalie explained as she used a little pad to wipe off the white goop on Lucy's hand. "That's why it's magic."

"Magic," I murmured to myself, shaking my head. What happened to health care? Now doctors and nurses were using magic? That was kind of fucked up.

"Can you look at Edward for me?" I squeezed her little hand and got her to do what Rose wanted. "Talk to her, Edward," Rose whispered. "Distract her."

"Talk about what?" I looked at Bella, and she just shrugged. Looking to Lucy, I saw that her eyes were wide and her lip was wiggling. Shit, that had to be bad. "Uhhh . . . hi, Lucy. Um. What do you want to talk about?"

She didn't answer and whimpered instead as Rose tied something around her arm. I wanted to ask what it was, but when I stopped talking to Lucy, Rose gave me a look. She'd been around Mom too much.

"Um. Oh, I bought you something at the store today," I said, remembering the doll I hadn't showed her yet. "It's a Nora or Dora or something like that. It's a doll?"

Bella gasped. "Really? You didn't have to buy her anything."

"I saw it and thought she might like it." I shrugged. "It's downstairs, though. I'll go get it when this is over."

I was ready for it to be over. All of us were ready for it to be over. I tried again to distract Lucy, but my talk about stocks did nothing to stop her from screaming when Rose poked her with the needle. I winced, fighting the urge to cover my ears. I'd probably have a headache later. Her cries I'd heard in the alley were nothing compared to this, but she stayed still long enough for Rose to finish.

"It's all done, sweet girl," Rose promised softly. "All done. I'm so sorry I had to do that to you. But that's it. No more owwies for Lucy."

"Mama," Lucy cried. "Mama, no no no."

"Shhh." Bella rocked her slightly, placing her cheek on the top of Lucy's head. I didn't miss the tears that fell from her eyes, and for some reason, it made my chest hurt. "It's all over, baby girl. It's all over. Now you can feel better like Dr. Carlisle said. Right?" she asked Rose hesitantly.

"That's right," Rose confirmed. She taped a few tubes down and removed the gloves she'd been wearing. "I'm about to start this medicine, and it should make her feel so much better."

"Thank you," Bella whispered, lifting her head and wiping her face. "What should we do while the medicine is . . . going?"

"Whatever you want. Someone can help you carry the bag and tubing downstairs and you can sit with us. Or you can stay up here where it's quiet and watch some TV. That's why we did this in here, so you'd both be more comfortable. Do you need anything before I go check on my boys?"

"Could we maybe get something to drink? Please, if it's not too much."

"I'll do it," I quickly volunteered. This was getting too awkward for me and getting something seemed like a good excuse.

I was tempted to take my time on my way to the kitchen, but for some reason I didn't. Mom was already pouring a glass of milk when I walked into the room, and she looked up and smiled sadly at me.

"I thought they could use an afternoon snack. Is sweet Lucy all right? I heard her."

"Rose hurt her," I blurted. "The magic didn't work or something." Mom gave me a strange look, but I didn't even want to try to figure it out. I was too tired for that. "Where's my bag from the store?"

"Over there, dear," Mom said, pointing toward the pantry door. "I just washed the cup so the only thing in it is the doll."

I nodded, going over to grab the bag. I pulled the doll out and ripped the tag off, turning it around in my hands. It was probably the strangest toy I'd ever seen, but if it would make Lucy stop screaming, it was worth it.

Mom scrambled around the kitchen, placing stuff on a tray before handing it to me. "Here. Some cookies and milk for them, and tell Bella she's welcome to anything else at any time."

"Do I get cookies, too?" I asked as I put the doll beside the milk and took the tray from her.

"Maybe," she answered and then turned her back to me. Apparently that was all I was getting.

With a huff, I headed back upstairs. Bella's door was cracked, so I opened it slowly. She and Lucy were where I'd left them on the bed, but Rose was nowhere to be seen. They were probably glad about that. Rosalie and her _magic_ shit that didn't even work. I hoped Mom was going to lecture her about that. I hadn't even done anything _that _bad today.

"What's all of that?" Bella asked as I sat the tray beside her.

"Milk and cookies," I explained. "And Mom said you can have whatever else you want."

"Thank you," she said softly, looking up at me. I nodded, her eye contact quickly making me nervous, and looked back to the tray.

"Uh . . . I think Lucy's milk is in that funny cup. I got it at the store earlier," I rambled. "Is it okay? I'm sure we have other cups, too. Oh and here's this doll, if she wants it."

I glanced up to see Bella smile and nudge her kid.

"Look, Luce. Edward has something for you."

Lucy turned her head on Bella's shoulder, smiling as she saw me.

"Eddard!" She reached her hand out toward me and, not knowing what to do, I handed her the doll.

"Here. It's that Hispanic girl you like. Nora or Lora or –"

"Dora," she said, smiling bigger as she hugged the doll to her.

I reached up and rubbed my chest, not liking how my chest felt tight. Maybe dinner gave me indigestion. Or Lucy really _was_ creepy and was putting a spell on me. Creepy fucking big eyes.

"Tell Edward thank you," Bella instructed her. She repeated it and giggled, and I had to smile back at her. The giggle was way better than her screams.

"Well, I guess I'll leave you to it." I quickly walked to the door, not wanting to get stuck again. "See you later."

"Thank you again," Bella said, smiling. "For everything."

"Bye bye, Eddard," Lucy added.

I closed the door behind me, rubbing my chest again. Yeah. I definitely needed some antacids.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you guys so much for the continued support. Your sweet words are a huge encouragement. =)**

**The next update will be posted in a little over two weeks. I'm going out of town and I have a wedding to attend, so look for the next chapter on a Monday or Tuesday. **

**I'm on twitter as KelleyRachelle if you want to follow, and sometimes I remember to post teasers. **

**Thanks again for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Twilight and its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. I'm just playing around with them.**

**Lots of thanks to_ MelissaMargaret_ for making this pretty, and to _anhanninen_ and _xxluvCarlisleEsmexx_ for prereading.**

* * *

**EPOV**

10:34

I couldn't remember the last time I was able to sleep this late on a weekday. Stretching, I rolled out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom. The lights came on as soon as I flipped the switch, a sign that we still had power. That was fine with me. I'd get the day off and not have to worry about finding something to do that didn't require electricity.

After finishing in the bathroom, I slowly headed downstairs. Not in a hurry to be around the whole family again, I only went to find food. The rest of the day would be spent in my room avoiding as much of the insanity as possible.

But as I walked past the living room, Alice called my name.

Sighing, I scratched my head and entered the room.

Alice was sitting on one end of the couch with Lucy in her lap. Bella was beside her, and Mom was on the other end. Rose was in one of the chairs, but other than that, no one else was in sight. The amount of women in one room made me nervous. No good could come of this much estrogen..

"What's up?"

"Lucy wants a snack, and since I'm sure you're on your way to the kitchen, you can bring back one for her."

I huffed. "No 'good morning, Edward' before you start asking for favors?"

"Nope," she answered, smiling. "It's closer to afternoon than morning anyway, and it's not like you'll say no to Miss Lucy."

Well, she was right about that part. Even though her eyes creeped me out, it wasn't as if I was going to deny her food.

"Fine. What does she want?"

"What kinds of snacks does she like, dear?" Mom asked Bella, but Bella shrugged. "Well, how about you go help Edward figure it out?"

I didn't think I need that much help, but Bella nodded so we went to the kitchen together.

As I'd hoped, I found a plate full of breakfast waiting for me in the oven. Pancakes, bacon, eggs, and toast - Mom had really gone all out.

"Man, you guys had the good stuff this morning," I commented, wasting no time before shoveling a fork full into my mouth.

Bella giggled, nodding again. "Um, yeah. Your mom and sister cooked a lot. I've never seen that much food at one time before, but your brother eats a lot. So does Dr. Carlisle."

"Yeah," I agreed, looking back at my plate. "I think it's a family trait. I probably could have eaten more than this."

"I wasn't sure you'd ever come downstairs," she said softly. "I haven't seen you since yesterday afternoon." I looked over at her, but she wasn't looking at me anymore. Weird.

I shrugged. "I like to sleep late, and I was just hanging in my room yesterday. So. . . what kind of snack does the kid want?"

Going over to the refrigerator, I grabbed the milk to pour myself a glass and let Bella look inside. It was pretty full with all kinds of stuff, but she pulled out the yogurt I'd bought yesterday.

"I think she'll like this," Bella said softly, running her hand over the package. "Did you get this?"

"Uhh . . . yeah," I said slowly, not understanding why this was a big deal. "I got it yesterday when i got that doll. There's some Nora cereal too somewhere around here."

Before I knew what was happening, Bella had her arms around my waist. _Hugging_ me. I barely had time to awkwardly pat her back with my free hand before she backed away. I didn't know what to say so we stood silently for a few moments, not looking at each other.

"Milk?" I finally asked, offering her the carton.

She glanced at the carton, nodded, and then left the room.

Not knowing what in the world she was doing, I went back to eating my breakfast. It was still warm and tasted amazing. All of Mom's mom looks were totally worth being able to eat her food. Well, mostly.

Bella returned just as I was finishing the last of my food. She had Lucy's cup in her hand, so I pulled the milk back out for her. After she poured the milk and grabbed the yogurt and a spoon and I placed my plate in the sink, we went back to the living room together.

Alice and Rosalie were no longer sitting with Mom and Lucy, and I sighed in relief. The less I had to deal with at one time, the better.

I _did _love my family, but besides the four years I was away at college, I had been around them my whole life. Emmett and Alice had bossed me around when we were kids, and they had a bad habit of trying to do the same now that we were adults. In small doses, it was fine. But the whole family at once? That was torture I didn't like to put myself through often.

I stole Rosalie's seat, reclining the chair as I watched Bella feed Lucy the yogurt. For some reason, it was interesting to watch. Lucy would open her mouth wide to wait for the spoon, and Mom and Bella would laugh each time. They finally gave Lucy a turn to feed herself, and she didn't even get pink yogurt on the couch. I knew for a _fact_ that Emmett's kids couldn't eat without making a mess. We all saw that last night.

When Lucy was finished, she drank her milk in Bella's lap while Mom took the trash to the kitchen. After a few seconds, she scooted down to the floor and walked over to me. Taking her cup from her mouth, she held up her arms.

"Eddard, up!"

"Say please," Bella instructed, obviously not noticing my slight panic. The kid wanted me to _what_?

"Peas." Lucy grinned, scooting close to my raised legs.

"You want me to pick you up?" I asked, and she nodded.

Carefully, I leaned over to pick her up and placed her in my lap. She settled up against me and started drinking her milk again like it was no big deal.

But it was a big deal. One day hadn't increased my knowledge of children. Lucy wasn't a math equation, and I had no idea how to solve her.

To make things worse, as soon as Mom came back, she had a shit-eating grin on her face. Seeing me like this made her _happy. _Some mom she was. But she did turn on the TV to some kid show that made Lucy laugh. So maybe she wasn't so bad.

When Lucy finished her milk, she handed me the cup like I knew what to do with it. Then she started talking to me, but I only understood half of what she said. And that half was translated _very_ liberally.

"Dora, Eddard," she said, holding up her doll for me to see. She still had it and was carrying it about. That made me smile. "Dora and Boots s'plorin', Eddard."

"Really," I mumbled, like I knew what she was talking about.

She nodded and patted my hand, and I noticed that though she wasn't hooked up to a bag or anything, the needle was still in her little hand.

"When does this come out?" I asked, pointing to it.

"Dr. Carlisle said this afternoon," Bella answered with a smile. "As long as she's still getting better, she won't need anymore of that kind of medicine."

Mom wrapped her arm around Bella and pulled her close to her side. "Carlisle's very happy with how things are going so far," she added. "Miss Lucy already sounded so much better this morning, so we're all hoping she'll be good as new within a couple of days."

"Where is Dad?" I asked.

"Probably either in his office or getting ready to take the boys outside to play. We didn't lose anything last night, but we did get plenty of snow." She squeezed Bella again. "We'll be hanging inside today, but you might want to think about going to play with them. I'm sure they'd love some Uncle Edward time."

I wasn't so sure about that, but as much as I didn't hate spending time with Bella and Lucy, it was starting to get weird again. A break could be nice.

"I think I'll go find Dad and see," I said a few minutes later. Carefully, I let down the chair and stood with Lucy under my arm. Mom and Bella both started laughing at me, but I just rolled my eyes. It might not have been how a kid was _supposed_ to be carried, but at least I didn't break her before I could put her down in Bella's lap.

Dad wasn't in his office, so I followed the noise downstairs and found everyone else putting on coats, hats, and mittens. Apparently playing in the snow was now a family thing.

"Are you coming out with us, Edward?" Alice asked when she noticed me.

I shrugged. "I don't know. It's cold out there." I'd had about all the cold I ever wanted yesterday.

"Don't be a pussy . . . cat," Emmett quickly corrected himself when Rose slapped his arm. "I was going to say cat, woman!"

She snorted. "Sure you were. But really, Edward. Don't be a pussy cat. I know the boys would love to play with you. Right, guys?"

They both agreed and jumped up and down as best as they could in their gear.

Out numbered, I sort of agreed and headed back upstairs. I dressed in the warmest clothes I could find and put on my coat and gloves. I couldn't find a hat, but Jasper let me borrow one of his. It was an ugly ass green color, but at least it kept my ears warm.

As soon as I walked outside, the shivering started. My first thought was that I needed to go back inside. Maybe Mom would make me some hot chocolate. And maybe Bella would need me to sit with her again. As weird as _that_ was, at least I'd be warm.

But then a little hand grabbed mine.

"Come on, Uncle Edward! Come play with me and Brady!" Seth smiled up at me as he pulled on my hand.

"Uhhh . . . what do you want me to do?"

"You can help us build a ginormous snowman army to fight the bad guys!"

"A what?" I laughed as he huffed at me. "Look, little dude . . . I don't know what you want." I didn't speak four . . . five . . . whatever year old.

"Just come on!" he ordered, pulling me over to where the smaller kid was waiting with Emmett, Jasper, and Dad. "Brady, Uncle Edward's gonna help us with the army!"

"Yay!" Brady cheered, jumping up, just to fall down in the snow on his ass.

I couldn't stop myself from laughing at him, and even Emmett and Jasper were snickering. Dad was the only one who managed to keep a straight face as he helped the kid up.

"Granddad's got your back, bud," he told him, patting his covered little head.

He wrapped his arms around Dad's leg, pouting at the rest of us. "I don't wanna pway wif you."

Emmett sobered from his laughing, quickly glancing to the porch where Rose was sitting with Alice. "Aw, come on, buddy. We're sorry we laughed at you. Right?" He looked to Jasper who quickly agreed and then to me, but I refused to say anything.

"What?" I asked. "I'm not sorry. It was funny. He can take it."

Em narrowed his eyes at me and walked over, talking low. "Look, if the kids are happy, Rose is happy. If Rose is happy, I'm happy, got it? So apologize even if you don't mean it so we don't all get in trouble."

Sighing, I rolled my eyes. "Fine." I'd heard Rose yell before, and I wasn't ready to experience that today, so I went over and knelt by Brady. "Sorry for laughing, kid. Will you play with me now?"

I felt so stupid, asking for the kid to play with me. All I expected was maybe a nod, but instead, he threw his arms around my neck.

Well this was different. Apparently today was the day for hugging.

I still felt a little awkward, but I wrapped my arms around him and patted his back a couple of times. The back patting worked on Lucy yesterday, and it kind of seemed to work on him. He backed up and smiled at me.

"Unco Edward, you pway wif me, not Daddy."

I chuckled under my breath and nodded. It wasn't as if I wanted to play with Emmett anyway.

Seth split us into teams and had us all rolling snow into snowman parts. Jasper and Dad assembled them, and soon we had a small army of eight snowmen. They didn't have faces or arms, but I guessed they did look pretty cool.

I couldn't remember the last time I'd made a snowman. And I _really _couldn't remember the last time I'd played with the boys. But they weren't so bad. Kind of snotty, but so was Emmett at times. If I survived growing up with him, I could deal with these two.

Hanging with Emmett and Jasper wasn't so bad either. Even though we all worked together, I rarely talked to them about anything other than work. It was actually nice to spend time together like this. Well, not exactly like this because I was probably freezing my nuts off. But I could see that hanging with them after work would be all right. After the snow melted, maybe we could go somewhere. I'd have to ask them later.

Maybe Bella or Lucy _had_ put a spell on me - one that made me want to spend time with my family. Everything was completely different since I'd found them. Whether it was a good different or a bad different, I couldn't decide. I'd have to sleep on it, for a few days at least.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you all so much for continuing to read and review, and for being patient with me while I was out of town. **

**I'm so sorry I wasn't able to reply to many reviews, but I figured posting a new chapter would be preferred to a reply. ;) **

**And I usually like to let my stories speak for themselves, but since many reviewers had this question, I figured I should address it. Edward is not autistic, though it's my personal opinion that everyone could fit on the spectrum somewhere. He's just a regular, introverted guy who is very clueless. Most guys I know don't immediately emotionally connect, and if they don't have kids, the littler ones especially tend to intimidate them. This Edward _is _more clueless than most, but just like Bella, Edward has a story to tell. Hopefully you guys will stick with me to hear them. **

**I hope that cleared up a little about Edward, but feel free to ask questions in reviews, PMs, or on twitter. I try to answer any that won't give away the whole story.**

**Thanks again for reading! Your support means so much to me. I hope you enjoyed the chapter! **


	9. Chapter 9

**Twilight and its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. I'm just playing around with them.**

**Lots of thanks to_ MelissaMargaret_ for making this pretty, and to _anhanninen_ and _xxluvCarlisleEsmexx_ for prereading.**

* * *

**BPOV**

Lucy pressed her face against the glass door, whimpering softly. I went over and picked her up, and she buried her face against my neck.

"I'm sorry, baby," I said softly, running my hand over her hair. "Maybe you can play in the snow another day."

She shook her head and coughed, reminding me why she couldn't be outside.

Dr. Carlisle had examined Lucy as soon as we came downstairs this morning. He and Esme had been the only ones in the living room, and that had made me relax a little. Everyone in the Cullen family was nice and welcoming, but they were loud when they were all in one place. Lucy and I didn't like loud.

But Esme and Dr. Carlisle seemed to understand. When he'd examined Lucy, I could tell he was being very gentle, and he'd hummed softly as he'd worked. But what had really made me feel better was when he had said that Lucy sounded much better and the medicine had done its job. She wasn't completely better yet, but he wasn't worried.

"I don't think we'll need to do another IV treatment, but we'll give her some oral medicine now," he'd explained. "It's just a liquid so it should be easy for her to swallow. We'll do that and tylenol every few hours to keep her comfortable."

And she was comfortable. That much I knew.

Lucy had never been much of a crier. I'd read baby books while I was pregnant, and I expected her to cry. That's what babies did. But my Lucy was a quiet baby and only cried when something was _really _wrong. She preferred other ways to get what she wanted. When she first started getting sick, I knew something was wrong because she was crying and wouldn't tell me if she was hungry or thirsty or needed to go to the bathroom.

Now, she was back to telling me what she wanted. And since she was _this _vocal about something, she was obviously feeling much better.

I carried Lucy over to the couch and sat down. Esme smiled at us and offered to get Lucy a drink. I nodded to accept her offer and turned my attention to my sad girl.

"Hey." I gently moved her head away from my neck so I could see her face. Her sad eyes hurt my heart. "I'm sorry you're sad, Luce. I bet you can get one of the little boys to play with you when they come inside. They seem nice."

I'd only seen them at meals and for a few minutes after breakfast. They were always moving and wanted new things to do. Rosalie assured me that they'd love having a new person to play with, though.

"Mm mmm." Lucy shook her head again. "Eddard."

I chuckled as I kissed her forehead. Edward was her new favorite person, not that I could blame her. Sometimes he was really weird, but he was also sweet at the same time. I'd never met anyone like him before, and he might have been my new favorite person too.

"I miss him, too. He'll come back inside soon."

No sooner than I said that, everyone outside seemed to disappear, hopefully to come inside. I was glad they wouldn't be tempting Lucy anymore. And that Edward might come back and sit with us.

Esme did come back to sit with us, and offered her arms and a cup to Lucy. Lucy accepted both, and Esme managed to distract her long enough for her to forget about what was upsetting her.

"There's the giggle," Esme said as she tickled Lucy's belly. "I knew you had a precious little giggle in you. Wait til Alice hears you. She had a giggle just like that."

Pulling my legs up, I rested my head on my knees and smiled at the sight of them. Esme was a perfect Mom and Nona, as the little boys called her. It made me a little sad. I didn't have a mother, and I wasn't sure if I'd ever had one except for when I was born. Being around Esme made me wish she was mine, too.

I was afraid to want it, but part of me wanted the Cullens to keep us after the storm was over. We didn't fit here, I knew that, but it was nice to think about it. Lucy and I would always be warm and have plenty of food and company. A nice bed to sleep in, hot water, clean clothes. And love. It was _so _easy to imagine being loved.

"Shhh. Don't cry, sweetheart." Esme scooted over and wrapped her arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer to her. I swiped my hand over my cheek, surprised to find tears. I hadn't even known I was crying which made me want to cry more.

"I'm sorry," I murmured, resting my head on Esme's shoulder.

"No, you have nothing to be sorry for." I felt her kiss the top of my head, and I had to close my eyes. She wasn't helping me stop dreaming. "Bella," she said softly, "I just want you to know that you can talk to me about anything. Or any of us. You and Lucy are important to us, and we want to help you however we can."

"I don't think you can help with this," I whispered before I could stop myself.

She hummed, not seeming bothered by what I said, and kissed my head again. "You never know until you ask. We might just surprise you."

...

Lucy and I spent most of the afternoon with Esme. We waited on Edward to come back, but he never did. But Esme's company was still more than nice, and I'd never complain.

When she went into the kitchen to start cooking dinner, Rosalie took her place on the couch. I liked Rosalie. She had a soft voice, the opposite of her husband, but she managed to boss him around. They'd made me laugh every time I was around them. The love between them was obvious, even to me, but they could joke around with each other. I liked that.

Lucy, on the other hand, hid from Rose. She hadn't forgiven her for putting the needle in her hand. I didn't blame her. For a little while, I was afraid, too. Sure, the Cullens had been nice to us so far, but I had no way to know if that would stop. And having someone I barely knew hurt my baby was hard. How could I be sure that all of them wouldn't start hurting us?

But I had an advantage that Lucy didn't. Rose talked to me last night when she unhooked most of the tubes while Lucy was sleeping and then this morning she sat by me at breakfast. She was almost as sweet as Esme, and I could see how much she loved her little boys. That was something we had in common. We were mommies, and she told me that she knew exactly how I felt because she'd been through it the first few times her babies had to get shots at the doctor. It didn't matter that you knew the pain was helping them, it still hurt you inside.

She could make my inside feelings into words, and I wanted to trust her completely. It was just hard.

"How's it going?" she asked, smiling even as Lucy hid her face against a pillow.

"Okay, I guess. Um . . . Lucy saw you guys in the snow and wanted to go out. Was it fun?"

She laughed, shaking her head slightly. "It was cold, that's for sure. The boys had fun with Edward, but I had more fun coming inside."

"Where did everyone else go?" I wanted to ask about Edward without _asking_ about Edward. My feelings for him were fuzzy. I was pretty sure I wanted him to be my friend, but I wasn't sure how to do that.

"My boys are downstairs playing games with Jasper," she said. "Alice is up in her room, and I'm not sure what happened to Dad and Edward."

"Oh. Okay." I tried to hide my disappointment, but it probably didn't work.

Rosalie just smiled. "You know, I was just about to go hang with Alice for a while if you and Lucy want to come. We can watch TV or something like that. I'm sure you're probably bored after sitting here all day."

Sitting on this couch with a blanket wrapped around me was actually one of the most comfortable places I'd been in a while, but she was right about it being a bit boring. Lucy was still upset about not going outside, so the distraction would be good for her, too. So I accepted Rosalie's offer and followed her upstairs.

We passed the room Lucy and I were staying in and Edward's room, but his door was closed. Alice's door, however, was open, and she was stretched out in the middle of her bed with a computer in front of her.

"Can we crash your party?" Rosalie asked, not waiting for Alice's answer before sitting in a large chair that was beside the bed.

"Of course," Alice said, looking up from her computer to smile at me and Lucy. "You can sit on the bed with me, Bella, if you want."

"Um . . . okay," I said softly. I walked over and sat on the edge of the bed, pulling my legs up so I could hold Lucy in my lap. She held my hands tightly and looked around the room with wide eyes.

Alice's room was just as beautiful as the rest of the Cullen house, but I wasn't surprised anymore. I guessed this was just how they lived, and Lucy and I were lucky enough to experience it for a little while.

"What are you looking for?" Rosalie asked Alice, startling me from my thoughts.

"Just window shopping for Bella and Lucy," Alice explained. "Who knows when we'll be able to get out of the house, so I wanted to have a back-up plan."

Alice had my attention as soon as she said our names, and my mouth fell open as I looked at the computer screen. She was looking at little girl clothes. There were so many pretty dresses and shirts and even pretty pajamas. And she wanted to buy these things for us?

"You don't have to do that," I said quickly. "We have enough. And I won't ever be able to pay you back. I promise we have enough."

Alice sat up, watching me for a few seconds before smiling. "Bella." She reached over, grabbing my hand lightly. "Whatever we do for you while you're staying with us, honey, we don't expect you to pay us back, nor do we want you to."

"But . . ."

She shook her head. "No buts on this. Please. I promise it won't be anything too extreme – just the essentials like underwear and warm clothes for winter. And I'd love if you'd want to help me choose everything. Then we could spend some time together before we go back to the real world."

"I just . . . " I shook my head slightly and placed my chin on Lucy's head. These Cullens were so confusing. They let us stay in their house and fed us without even knowing anything about us, and now they were going to buy us new clothes? It didn't make any sense.

"You know, this is as much for us as for you," Rosalie added. "We're not entirely selfless or altruistic by any means."

"She's right," Alice said, nodding in agreement. "We get the best of this deal."

Now I was really confused. "But what do you get out of buying stuff for us?" I asked. Unless . . .

No. _No_. I couldn't do that again. And I wouldn't let it happen to Lucy. She deserved so much more. I couldn't let it happen. I just couldn't.

"Bella? Bella?"

Feeling something touch me, I jumped. Startled, I looked down and found Alice's hand on my arm. She slowly moved it down until she was holding my hand.

"Bella? What's wrong?" she asked, squeezing my hand. "Did we say something wrong?"

"Wha-what?" I murmured, looking up to her face. Her eyes were very big as she watched me carefully.

"We lost you there for a minute, sweetie. Is everything okay? I'm sorry if we said something to upset you."

I shook my head. "No, I'm . . . I'm fine." I wasn't fine, but I couldn't tell them what was wrong. They would kick me out. For Lucy, we needed to stay for at least a little while longer. She needed to get better and hopefully they wouldn't ask me to do anything before that happened.

"Are you sure?" Rosalie asked, coming over to sit at the bottom of the bed. "If we said something, please tell us. We want you and Lucy to be happy here, not afraid. I'm sorry if we're coming on too strong. We can wait on clothes and things for a little while. I just feel bad we don't have any girl clothes for Lucy yet."

I looked down at Lucy and smiled when I saw her unsure look. I didn't want to scare her, even if that was what I was feeling inside. My smile made her smile and relax against me, so I wrapped my arms around her and squeezed. I'd always keep her safe.

And having any clothes that were clean and dry was what mattered to me, but Lucy did deserve better. Maybe I could find a way to pay them.

"It's okay." I took a deep breath and looked at Rosalie and Alice. "Um, I know how to cook and clean, and I can do laundry, too. I'm better at cleaning, but I'll do whatever I have to so I can pay you back. Just . . . please. Give me a chance before you make us leave. Lucy has to get better."

I stopped and lowered my head, trying to stop breathing as fast because Lucy could feel it. No one said anything at first, and I wondered if they were mad at me. Or worse, if they were planning something bad. Running wasn't something I wanted to do again, but I would if I had to.

But when someone did finally make a sound, it was one I did _not_ expect to hear. Sniffling.

"Mama," Lucy whispered, patting my hand. "Crying, Mama. Sad."

Startled, I glanced up. Lucy was right. Both Rosalie and Alice were watching us with tears dripping down their faces.

"I'm sorr –"

"_No_," Rosalie said fiercely, wiping her hand over her cheek. "No," she repeated, softer this time. "You don't have anything to apologize for. _We _should be apologizing." Alice nodded. "If we're overwhelming you or threatening you, just tell us and we'll back off. We never want you to feel that way."

"You're safe here," Alice said with a small smile. "We're not going to make you cook or clean or anything like that. And, we don't have to buy anything until we've talked about this more, okay? We'll just look and save for later. Or not. We can just sit here and be lazy until dinner. I'm just excited to spend time with you."

"Why?" I asked bravely. "Why do you want to spend time with me?"

Alice shrugged. "Why not? I know we don't know you well yet, but you seem nice to me."

"We're surrounded by boys, Bella," Rosalie said, rolling her eyes but smiling. "Alice, Mom, and I are so outnumbered, so we're excited to add two girls to the mix. We have to stick together."

"Oh." This family was so . . . strange. I wasn't convinced they were real. Even when I thought I'd messed up completely, they were still nice to us and didn't want us to be afraid. I'd trusted them so far, so maybe I could keep trusting them for a while longer.

"We could just watch some TV," Rosalie suggested. "I bet we can find some Dora for Lucy to watch."

That caught Lucy's attention, so I quickly agreed. It didn't take Rosalie long to find the right show, and Lucy was immediately calm as she watched with wide eyes.

After a few minutes, Alice convinced her to sit in her lap and the computer was placed in mine. I wasn't sure how to use it, but Rosalie and Alice helped. Surprisingly, all of the cute little girl clothes Alice had been looking at cost less than most I'd seen in stores. We found everything Lucy could possibly need for the next few days and some things for me, all for less than two hundred dollars. That was still more than I had to spend on clothes, but less than I expected. And it was nice to know that we could save the list for later, after talking with Esme and Dr. Carlisle about how I could work this out.

Spending a few hours with Rosalie and Alice was fun, too. Even Lucy started talking and giggling with Rosalie instead of hiding her face. By the time Esme came upstairs to get us for dinner, I was smiling – a _real _smile that didn't disappear, even when I sat at the very full table.

Dinner was as loud as ever, but Lucy and I sat by Edward again. Well, I sat by Edward. Lucy decided to sit with him, and he didn't stop her. We'd missed him today, but he didn't say where he had been after playing in the snow. I didn't ask either.

Edward was like me — he didn't say much. But he seemed happy just ignoring everyone else. I couldn't do that. I watched everyone, making sure I knew what was happening around me. So I didn't miss when Rosalie and Alice were talking to Esme while refilling drinks. I knew it was probably about me, and I wasn't surprised when Esme wanted to talk to me after we finished eating.

"You come too, Edward," she told him. "We'll meet you in Carlisle's office in a few minutes."

Edward sighed and passed Lucy to me before standing. "I'll show you where it is," he said.

I followed him to a room I hadn't seen before. It had dark wood floors, a desk, and a large leather couch. Edward motioned for me to sit, and we took spots on the opposite ends.

Esme and Dr. Carlisle didn't make us wait long. When they came in, he went to sit behind the desk, and Esme took her usual spot beside me with her arm around my shoulders. I leaned back against her, loving how it felt to have someone touch me like this. It was nice.

"First things first," Dr. Carlisle said, smiling as he pulled something out of a drawer of the desk. "I'd like to listen to Miss Lucy's breathing and then hopefully we can get that mean ole' IV out of her hand. How does that sound?"

I smiled and nodded. Lucy hated having the needle in the hand, and I just wanted her to get better. If getting it out meant she was close to being better, I was happy about it.

Lucy didn't cry this time as Dr. Carlisle listened to her breathe. He gave her a thumbs up after listening to the front and back and then grabbed a white square and a band aid.

"Normally, Rose would be doing this, but I figured I can do it just as quick."

"Will it hurt?" I asked, sighing as he shook his head.

"It shouldn't hurt at all. The tape might be a little uncomfortable coming off, but I'll try my best to be gentle."

Lucy whined as he pulled the seven pieces of tape off, but as he said, taking the actual needle out didn't seem to bother her at all.

"There," he said as he put the band aid in place. "We didn't have any Dora ones, but I hope this one is okay."

Lucy looked at her hand and then up at me. "Diego, Mama," she said with a smile.

"Did Dr. Carlisle give you a Diego bandaid? Tell him thank you."

She thanked him and leaned over to show Edward. He looked confused but that didn't stop Lucy from trying to tell him about Diego.

Dr. Carlisle then explained what medicine Lucy would be taking. It was liquid, just like the cough medicine I'd gotten for her, so it would be easy for her to take. And as long as she was still better after ten days, she wouldn't have to take anything else. i felt so much better knowing that she wouldn't be sick for much longer.

"Now, my daughters have brought something else to my attention," he began, and I braced myself for what he would say. "None of us want you to be uncomfortable, but may I ask why you don't want us to get you any clothing?"

"We just want to help, sweetheart," Esme said, holding me close. "You and Lucy deserve so much, and we want to help as much as we can."

"But I can't pay for it," I protested. "We can make do with what we have, I promise."

Esme shook her head. "We don't expect you to pay us back for any of it."

"But . . . what do you get out of it?" It was the question I'd been wanting to ask but was too afraid to. What did they get out of having me and Lucy here, buying us clothes, feeding us? They couldn't be doing it for no reason.

"We get so much," Esme assured me. "We get to know that you both are safe, warm, and happy. The little boys have a new playmate now. Alice and Rose have someone to spend time with, and Edward gets some company out of it, too. Our family likes to help people, and with you it's even more special. I so hope you choose to stay here after the weather is back to normal."

Her face was so hopeful, so . . . honest. At least as far as I could tell.

"So . . . you just want to help us? I don't have to clean or cook or anything? Because I can," I quickly assured her. "I'm really good at it. I promise I can pay you back for our stay here, just not with money."

Dr. Carlisle cleared his throat and rolled his chair over in front of the couch. "That kind of leads in to what else we'd like to talk about, dear. We won't pressure you to tell us your past or whatever led to you being out in the cold, but I do feel the need to ask. Did you stay somewhere else where they forced you to do housework?"

My eyes widened as I started breathing faster. I hadn't thought about them asking how I got here or about things that happened to me before. What did I say? Would they get mad if I told the truth?

Esme shushed me and pulled me as close as I could get to her side. "Bella. It's okay, darling. You can tell us the truth. We won't do anything to hurt you or Lucy."

"We just want to keep you safe," Dr. Carlisle said. "We can protect you if you're running from something."

I nodded, hoping they would understand that it was my answer to all of it.

"Okay, sweetheart," he said calmly, understanding. "One more question. Were you ever sexually abused anywhere you stayed before here?"

Quickly, I shook my head and looked down, embarrassed by his question.

"So no one has ever touched you inappropriately or forced you to do anything sexual you didn't want to do?"

"No," I answered out loud this time, feeling my cheeks burn. "That hasn't ever happened." I didn't know much about . . . _sex . . . _or men, but I knew I had never been forced to do anything like that. _Almost_, but I was good at running.

"Okay. That's good, sweetheart," Dr. Carlisle said. "Was Lucy involved in any of the forced housework?"

I shook my head again, finally looking up at him. "No, that was before. Before I was pregnant. No one has ever hurt my baby."

He smiled as Esme kissed the side of my head. "That's what I was hoping to hear. And as far as the housework goes, we won't be forcing you to do _anything _while you're here with us. Now, if you want to help someone prepare a meal or something like that, that's fine."

"We want you to be comfortable," Esme added. "You're free here, or at least you will be when the snow melts. We're all kind of stuck for the time being."

I nodded and tried to let everything sink in. The Cullens were happy we were here and didn't want anything in return for our stay. But I still didn't feel right about taking clothes and things from them. It was my job to provide for me and my Lucy.

"Is there nothing I can do?" I asked softly. "For the clothes and stuff? I just don't feel right taking from you, even if you're giving."

"Give her a job," Edward said.

I'd almost forgotten that he was even here. Lucy hadn't, though. She was almost in his lap, and either she'd been distracting him or he'd been distracting her from the conversation we were having.

Esme hummed, thinking before nodding. "That's a good idea, son. How would you feel about working for me, Bella? You could help me around the office part-time and earn a paycheck."

"Oh," I gasped. "Well . . . I've never worked in an office before. I don't know what to do. And what about Lucy?" There was no way I'd be leaving her.

"I'd show you everything you'd need to know." Esme's smile grew — she was obviously happy about this idea. "And you can bring Lucy with you. I certainly don't mind having her at the office, and I know she'll love seeing Edward."

"See Eddard?" Lucy asked. "Eddard here, Nona." She patted his arm. "Eddard."

"That's right, precious," Esme agreed as tears filled her eyes. "Edward is right there."

I had no idea why she was starting to cry, so I looked at Dr. Carlisle. He chuckled as if he was used to it.

"Does that sound like a good plan for now?" he asked me. "We can always talk about it later if you change your mind. It's completely up to you."

Office work sounded complicated, but I liked the idea of earning my own money. And working with Esme sounded like a fun job. They had good food there. And Edward was there.

So I agreed. The Cullens might not have been real, but I was going to enjoy staying with them as much as I could.

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**A/N: So some questions are starting to be answered, but I guess others are being raised too. ;-) **

**Thank you all so much for the amazing support! I just finished a ridiculously hard semester, and your sweet words definitely helped get me through. The next update might take a little longer than 2 weeks, though. I finally have a few days of free time before classes start back for the summer and I have to catch up with real life. Thank you for being patient with me.**

**Also, _anhanninen_ and I entered the Twilight Happily Ever After contest and our entry, _Superheros and Second Chances_ is now posted on my profile. Check it out if you get a chance.**

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**And, my thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected in the tragic events this week. I debated updating tonight but finally decided we could all use a little distration after this sad week. xo**


	10. Chapter 10

**Twilight and its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. I'm just playing around with them.**

**Lots of thanks to_ MelissaMargaret_ for making this pretty, and to _anhanninen_ and _xxluvCarlisleEsmexx_ for prereading**

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**EPOV**

If I hadn't been sure before about Mom keeping Bella and Lucy, I was now. As soon as Lucy called her Nona, it was case closed.

So I guessed I had to get used to having them around all the time. If I was being honest with myself, it wasn't _that_ bad. Lucy and Bella seemed to really like me, and I couldn't remember the last time someone wanted to spend that much time with me. Besides Mom and Dad, but they were family. This was different.

After finishing the most awkward and uncomfortable conversation I'd ever witnessed, Mom and Dad left the office. I was relieved to know that Bella hadn't had . . . that stuff happen, but it sounded as if she'd been through enough.

Maybe she wasn't a psychopath after all.

I didn't know why Mom made me sit through their conversation. I didn't do anything besides listen to Lucy and try to understand what she was telling me while also trying to keep up with the other conversation. But once they were gone, Bella let out a big breath and leaned her head on my shoulder.

Now I had a kid in my lap and a girl with her head against me. Great.

"Are you . . . are you okay?" I asked softly.

Bella sighed and nodded against my shoulder. "Yeah. I think so," she whispered. "Just tired of being scared."

"You don't have to be scared here. Everyone's mostly harmless." We were practically the most harmless family ever. We only had about four speeding tickets among all of us. And three of those were Emmett's.

"I'm trying not to be," she said. "You've all helped us so much, but it's just hard."

"So are you excited about working with Mom?" I asked, hoping to change the subject to something less serious. I could only handle so much serious in a short time and was way past my limit.

She sat up straight and nodded, smiling now. "I think so. I mean, I've never worked in an office before, but I like your mom so I hope she won't be too hard on me if I mess up. I want to try my best. Are you sure _you _don't mind us being there? I'm sorry if Lucy bothers you."

I shrugged as Bella pulled Lucy into her lap. When I'd suggested a job, I was thinking Mom and Dad could help Bella find a job somewhere else. Not in our building. But did I mind? Not really. I kept to myself in the office most of the time, so having Bella work with mom wouldn't affect me.

"It doesn't bother me," I finally answered. "I don't know what work she'll have for you, but it can't be that hard. All she does is boss everyone around."

Bella giggled which made Lucy giggle, and then we went back to sitting in the quiet. This was why I _almost _liked having Bella and Lucy around. If I was with them, no one bothered me to come be around everyone else. I liked the break from the loud.

Eventually, someone did come bother us, but it was only Seth.

"Uncle Edward, come play with us!" he said with a wide smile. "You can be on my team again. And Miss Bella, Mommy wants you on her team. And Lucy can pick the one she wants."

"What are we playing?" Bella asked, standing with Lucy. Apparently she was going along with this plan. With a huff, I stood with her. If the rest of the family was going to be downstairs, I was going to be upstairs.

"I dunno yet," Seth answered. "But it'll be lots of fun so come on!"

Before I could move to go to my room, Bella grabbed my hand and pulled me to the door, not letting it go until we were downstairs. I didn't know why she did it, and I didn't know why it didn't bother me as much as it should have. But that seemed to be the trend. With Bella and Lucy, I didn't know much at all.

The whole family seemed happy to see us, and we spent the next few hours playing board games and watching TV. I laughed . . . a lot. Mom had another one of her weird smiles again, but this time, I tried to ignore her. She could smile all she wanted because I was actually having a decent time.

I wondered if I had been wrong. Maybe my family wasn't so bad to be around. Yeah, they were loud and Alice was still bossy most of the time, but they still included me and didn't act like I was a stranger. I just wasn't sure but maybe it was Bella and Lucy's fault. I had no complaints for once, though.

That didn't mean I would be volunteering to do this again. The spell they had over me wouldn't last forever, and then I could go back to enjoying my time alone. Or at least I hoped.

After playing for most of the evening, we all dispersed to head to bed.

I fell asleep quickly and didn't wake until I felt something poking my forehead. I tried to ignore it, hoping I was just dreaming, but it didn't stop.

"What?" I mumbled, scooting my head back to escape the pokes.

"Eddard? Sleepin, Eddard?"

Slowly, I opened my eyes and found Lucy standing beside my bed. She smiled when she saw that my eyes were opened and waved at me.

"Eddard! Wake, Eddard?"

I waved back and turned my head to look at the clock. 7:14. Definitely too early to be awake on a Saturday.

"Where's your mom?" I asked her. "It's too early to be awake now."

Lucy leaned against the bed, putting her face close to mine. "Mama sleepin'. Eddard sleepin'. Me wake."

For once, I understood everything she said. Bella was asleep, and so was I. But Lucy was awake. I didn't know what I was going to do about that.

"Up!" she said, lifting her arms.

"Uh, what?"

"Up," she repeated, jumping a few times.

I had no idea what to do. She wanted to lay in bed with me? Was that legal?

"Peas, Eddard?" The way she was looking at me, all big eyes and sad pout, gave me indigestion again, so I placed my hands under her arms and lifted her to sit on my bed.

She giggled and immediately lay beside me, cuddling against my shoulder.

"Are you happy now?" I asked, awkwardly shifting so I was comfortable and pulling the blanket back over me.

Lucy nodded and kept quiet, and I sighed and rubbed my face with my free hand. I glanced to the door and was glad to see she'd left it open, remembering an old rule about having the door open if a girl was in the room. I was sure Mom didn't mean a tiny girl like Lucy, but still. I'd been in trouble enough for one week.

Since Lucy wasn't budging, I closed my eyes again. She was silent except for her soft breathing, so it didn't take long for me to drift off again.

The next time I woke up, it was because something heavy landed right on my chest.

"Eddard! Food me, kay?"

Groaning, I brought my hand up to rub my eyes. Leaving it there, I peaked through my fingers.

Lucy was sitting on my chest and was once again wide awake. For such a little girl, she could knock the breath out of someone. That someone being me.

She reached over to pat my shoulder. "Eddard. Wake, Eddard. Food!"

Clearly I wasn't getting anymore sleep so with a sigh I moved Lucy and sat up.

"Hey, Eddard," she said with a grin, crawling back into my lap.

"Hey, Lucy," I mumbled, glancing at the clock. Well, 9:05 was better than before — still too early for Saturday, but I would have to deal with it. "Where's your mom?"

"Food," she repeated.

"Food, huh?" She wanted me to feed her? I was _not _qualified for that, but maybe someone had made breakfast - for both of our sakes.

I put Lucy on the floor and headed to the bathroom, closing the door behind me. I may have let her sleep on my bed but there was no way she was following me in here to watch me take a piss. I hoped she went downstairs without me, but when I opened the door, I realized I wasn't that lucky.

"Up me!" Lucy said from her spot by the bed. She hadn't moved at all and was now raising her arms.

I assumed she wanted me to pick her up again, so I didn't even waste time saying anything before picking her up and heading downstairs.

Maybe I was getting the hang of this whole kid holding thing. Lucy didn't have any complaints anyway, and I managed to keep her alive all the way to the kitchen.

"Good morning, Edward. Good morning, Lucy," Mom said, glancing up from the magazine she was reading at the table. "Come sit and help yourself."

Unlike yesterday, I wasn't completely late for breakfast. Today there was a full table, and the one empty seat was next to Bella.

After taking my seat and passing Lucy to Bella, I filled my plate with pancakes and sausage and dug in. This snowed in thing wasn't so bad with food like this. No one said anything to me as we ate, not even to ask me why I came downstairs with a sidekick.

Though I hadn't missed breakfast entirely, I was still the last one to the table and everyone else finished by the time I was on my second helping. Soon the only people left at the table with me were Bella, Lucy, and Mom — not that I was complaining.

"Sorry about Lucy this morning," Bella said as she helped Lucy eat her pancake. "I didn't know she left the room and when I found her, your mom told me to leave her."

"You two were just so adorable," Mom said with a grin. "I made sure to take a picture if you want to see it."

I shook my head, not caring to see the picture. _Adorable _or not.

"It's okay," I told Bella after swallowing my mouth full. "She . . . wasn't bothering me that much." I thought about telling her that Lucy woke me up too damn early, but for some reason, I didn't want to make her feel bad.

Bella sighed and smiled at me. "Okay good. She really likes you, but just tell me if she's too much."

I nodded, but it was a lie. That littler girl would probably bother me as long as they stayed here. And I would let her because I was a sucker for those creepy big eyes and that pouting lip that gave me indigestion.

Basically, I was a two year old's bitch — a fact that was proven five minutes later when Lucy hugged me and I didn't complain out loud. Sticky syrup-covered fingers included. Yeah, I was whipped.

...

The rest of the weekend wasn't horrible.

Okay, it was actually kind of fun.

Seth and Brady convinced everyone to go back out to play in the snow, but this time, Bella and Lucy received the okay from Dad to join us. Lucy could only stay out for thirty minutes, so Mom made sure she made the most of it.

We built more snowmen, this time making one for each person. A snowman family. When we were finished, Alice set her camera up on a tripod to take our picture next to our matching snowman.

The little boys became bored quickly, and I was right there with them so we started a snowball fight against Emmett and Jasper. The women ran to the porch to avoid the flying snow, but Lucy wanted to stay with me. I might have helped her make a snowball to throw at Emmett. And I might have helped her make another one to throw at Jasper. She had pretty decent aim too, and Emmett and Jasper both decided to fall down and play dead when she hit them. They made her giggle, but _I _was the one who got a hug at the end.

Rosalie, Emmett, and the boys stayed at the house until Sunday afternoon. With the major part of the storm being over, Rosalie wanted to get the boys back into their "routine" before Seth's preschool started back. Bella seemed to be sad that they left which I didn't understand. They lived next door so it wasn't as if we'd never see them again.

Alice and Jasper stayed, though. Alice kidnapped Bella and Lucy after dinner, keeping them in her room all evening, and Jasper asked me to have a beer with him and play some Texas Hold 'em. I agreed because this spell I was under made me consider spending time with my brother-in-law without being forced.

We played a couple of rounds without saying much besides what was required for the game. It had been a few years since I'd played cards so I was rusty. Jasper seemed to be in his element with both good cards and the best fucking poker face I'd ever seen. He kicked my ass every time the river was flipped. We weren't playing for real money — thank God — so it was easy to keep going.

"It's been nice to have you around this weekend."

Jasper's voice startled me, and I looked up from my cards, just to make sure he was talking to me. He was the opposite of my loud sister, choosing not to fill every moment with meaningless talk, and that made me want to actually listen to him.

"Oh . . . uh . . . yeah. I guess it hasn't been so bad." I wasn't lying. The weekend with my family hadn't been _horrible. _

He looked over at me, making eye contact this time. "You know, when I first started dating Alice, I thought you didn't like me."

"Really?" That surprised me. Alice and Jasper had started dating during my sophomore year of college. She'd brought him home to meet everyone during summer break. I hadn't had a problem with Jasper, I just hadn't really talked to anyone.

He nodded, taking a drink of his beer. "I already loved Alice so it wouldn't have changed a whole lot, but I knew it meant a lot to her, and to me, to have the whole family's approval. Everyone else was easy to read. Except you."

I shrugged and looked back down at my cards. "It wasn't on purpose," I mumbled. I'd kept to myself during school breaks, spending most of my time working for mom. I'd always known what I wanted to do. Numbers and finance was one thing I could say I loved, and college was just a means to an end so I could accept the position mom had always saved for me.

Jasper chuckled. "I figured that out eventually. You didn't ignore just me. And I know we haven't talked much or spent any real time together in the last five or so years, but I'd like to change that. If you're game, that is."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Did Alice put you up to this?"

"No," he said, shaking his head. "Alice may have my balls in her little designer purse most of the time, but she doesn't control who I spend my time with. And I'd like to start getting to know you a little better." He paused and took another drink. "I mean, Bella and Lucy sure do like being around you so you must be fun."

I snorted. "Yeah . . . I don't know why they do that."

"Maybe because you're actually a good guy?" I narrowed my eyes once again, and he raised his hands defensively. "Look, man. I'm not trying to get all deep on you or say that anyone thinks you're _not _a good guy. You keep to yourself, and that's cool."

"And?"

"And . . . I don't know." He shrugged. "Maybe if you weren't holed up in your room all the time, more people would want to be around you. So. Sports bar this weekend. You game?"

I was almost sure my brother in law just insulted me and I had no clue how to take his comments, but I agreed. I never went out and as much as I enjoyed staying in my room, it would be a nice change from being stuck inside from the snow.

We called it quits at ten when Alice demanded Jasper's attention. I made my way to my room and lay down on the bed. Staring up at the ceiling, I thought more about what Jasper had said. It was the most he'd ever said to me at one time and that kind of pissed me off.

But maybe I wasn't pissed at him. He was right; I did keep to myself and stay away from everyone as much as possible. It was easier than dealing with people.

Did I want to change that? No . . . yes . . . maybe. Groaning, I fisted my hands in my hair. I didn't know why I was suddenly so confused. I'd never really wanted to spend time with my family before, but it hadn't been that bad this weekend. No one was different from what I remembered, and I wasn't different either — that I knew of anyway. So why wasn't it horrible?

Maybe I _was _pissed at Jasper now. This _caring _bullshit wasn't easy.

All of this headache was from finding two girls, exactly why I kept to myself. There wasn't much I could do now, though. Mom and Dad had basically adopted Bella and Lucy, and they weren't going anywhere any time soon.

"Guess I'll make the most of it," I mumbled as I stood up and went to lock my door.

Going to a bar with Jasper was one thing. Sharing my bed with a little person again was _not_ going to happen.

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**A/N: Sorry this was a bit later than planned! I'd hoped to have a set schedule for the summer by now, but everything is still up in the air. I'm still shooting to update every other week, but don't worry too much if the next update is a little late, too. I'll be back for sure - especially since we're getting to the good stuff soon. ;)**

**Thank you all so much for continuing to support this fic. You guys are so much awesomer than I ever could have imagined! **

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Thanks for reading!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Twilight and its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. I'm just playing around with them.**

**Lots of thanks to_ MelissaMargaret_ for making this pretty, and to _anhanninen_ and _xxluvCarlisleEsmexx_ for prereading.**

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**EPOV**

This was hell.

There was no other way to describe it. I hated shopping, but this wasn't just any shopping. This was coffee-fueled female _insanity._ And I had been dragged along for it.

The snow had finally slowed on Monday, and by Tuesday, all roads had been cleared. Dad went back to work as soon as he could, but Mom decided we would take a few more days off and go back on Thursday.

To me, this meant more time to sleep and lie around the house.

To Alice, this meant time for a shopping trip.

Bella had caved and given Rosalie, Alice, and Mom the go-ahead to buy some things for her and Lucy. I'd thought this meant I would have the house to myself for the whole day, but I'd been dead wrong. All it had taken was an "Eddard go" from Lucy for Mom to think it was a great idea.

That little girl lived to torture me.

We were three hours into this hell, and I was the pack mule. The women had picked out little clothes, big clothes, pajamas, _underwear, _shoes, and so many things I couldn't even identify but now carried around in heavy bags. My arms felt like they might fall off if we visited one more store, and thankfully Mom noticed.

"You know, Edward . . . you could probably take those bags to the car now. We have just a few more things on our list."

"Really?" I eyed her suspiciously, wondering if I was really getting off the hook so easily.

"Yes, I think we can manage," she said with a nod. "Although . . . I bet Lucy could use a break, too. Are you tired of shopping, precious?"

Lucy raised her head from where it was resting on Bella's shoulder and smiled at Mom before putting her head back down. Bella rubbed her back and turned to look at me.

"You don't have to take her," she said softly. "I can carry her until we're done."

I nodded, relieved but feeling a little bad for her. She didn't look like she wanted to be here much more than I did. Plus she'd been carrying Lucy the whole time. They were both acting all paranoid now that we were out of the house, and Lucy wouldn't go to anyone else. But still. I didn't want to be responsible for that little person.

"You know we could probably finish faster if you took her with you," Rose suggested, smirking at me.

I narrowed my eyes but thought about it. If they finished faster, I could be back home faster and enjoying my last day off.

Alice nodded, agreeing with Rose. "Yes, that's true, Edward. And you know, there's a frozen yogurt place just a couple of stores down. You two could go get some while you rest, and we'll meet you there. Bella, can Lucy have frozen yogurt?"

Bella shrugged. "She's never had any, but I guess so. But Edward doesn't have to —"

"Perfect!" Mom interrupted, pulling out her wallet. "You two can go take a break. We shouldn't be more than half an hour."

She handed me ten dollars and began talking to Rose and Alice. Apparently I didn't have a choice now.

"I'm sorry," Bella murmured, stepping away from the other women. "I tried."

I took a deep breath and let it out, shaking my head. "No, it's . . . okay. I know it's not your fault. Does Lucy even want to come with me?" If she started crying, there was no way I was agreeing to this.

"Hey, Luce." She rubbed her back again and waited for her to lift her head. "Edward's going to get a snack. Do you want to go with him?"

She nodded so fast that she almost looked like one of those dolls with the moving head.

"Eddard!" she squealed, turning to hold her arms out for me. "Food, Eddard!"

Sighing, I shuffled the bags around so I had a free arm for her. Once she was settled and Bella kissed her goodbye, I panicked.

"Wait," I said as Bella started to walk toward the others. "What do I do?"

One weekend hadn't increased my knowledge of little people nearly enough to feel comfortable taking care of one by myself for any length of time.

"What do you mean?"

"What do I do?" I asked again. "With her. There are rules, right?" There had to be some kind of guide book for this thing. I needed the chapter on what to do with a kid in public.

Bella looked at Mom and then back to me. "I'd go with you if I could, but I don't think they'll let me right now. Um . . . just don't lose her. You can't stop watching her no matter what. Please just keep her safe."

"Keep her safe," I repeated, nodding. "Okay. Safe. Anything else?"

"I don't think so. She went potty a few minutes ago, so she should be fine. Lucy, be good for Edward, okay?"

Lucy nodded and waved to everyone, and then we were on our own. As I walked to the exit, I realized what Bella had said. Oh God. I wasn't one for praying, but I prayed to whoever was listening to keep me from having to take this kid to the bathroom. I was definitely not qualified for that. _Ever._

After dropping the bags off at the car, I carried Lucy down to the yogurt place. Thankfully, it wasn't very crowded. But who else would want frozen yogurt after dealing with all the snow? Mom was crazy.

I wasn't sure what I wanted so I browsed through the flavors, finally deciding on chocolate and peanut butter with some of that chopped candy. But I had no idea what to get the kid.

"What kind do you want?" I asked her. She looked at me and smiled but didn't answer. Well that was helpful. "Uh . . . do you like chocolate? Or vanilla? Watermelon?"

She giggled and placed her hands on either side of my face. "Like Eddard."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I know you like me. But what kind of yogurt do you like?"

"Pink!" she finally said, pointing to a picture across from us.

Strawberry. That seemed normal enough.

I thought I was home free once I knew what flavors to get, but of course I was wrong. I quickly realized that I needed two hands for this.

Not knowing what else to do, I put Lucy down, watching her for a few seconds to make sure she wasn't going to escape.

"Eddard?" she asked, looking up at me with that pouting lip and raising her arms.

"I have to fix our yogurt," I explained. "Give me a minute. But . . . stay, okay?"

She actually listened to me and didn't move except to wrap her arms around my leg. I could barely believe it. Did all little people do that or was Lucy just special? Either way, I knew I needed to move fast and quickly prepared our bowls of yogurt. Figuring asking Lucy about toppings was a lost cause, I added a few sliced strawberries and chocolate chips. If she didn't like them, I'd eat them.

After weighing our bowls and paying, I found us a table away from the few other people sitting inside. As soon as I sat down, Lucy climbed into my lap. I wasn't about to try to move her. She might not have ran away before but I wasn't going to chance it again.

Even though it was freezing outside, I enjoyed the yogurt. Plus, it was nice to sit after following the insanity around all day. Lucy seemed to enjoy hers too and tried to offer me some of her yogurt. That lip killed me so I tried a couple of spoonfuls which made her want some of mine. Again, I fell victim to that pout, but the smile I received in return wasn't so bad.

When i finished my yogurt, it didn't take long for me to realize that I should have paid more attention to Lucy.

"Oh shit," I mumbled as I looked at her face . . . and chest . . . and hands.

"Eddard, look," she said, offering me her hands. "Pink! Icky pink yum. Uh oh."

Her hands were definitely pink and sticky as was her mouth and front of her shirt. A little bit might have been in her hair, too. There was also a ring of brown around her lips from where she'd tried mine. I had a feeling I was going to be in trouble for this.

Just as I was scanning the place for a napkin container, the bell on the door jingled and Mom led the pack inside. There was no use in trying to hide because she spotted us right away. I braced myself for the lecture I was sure was coming, only to be surprised when they all started laughing.

"I see someone enjoyed the yogurt," Mom said, still laughing as she sat down across from us. "Was that good yogurt, Lucy? Did Edward give you a good snack?"

Lucy nodded, holding her hands out toward Mom. "Nona, look! Yum pink. Icky hands. Eddard uh oh."

I knew it was my fault, but she didn't have to rub it in.

"We'll go get some wet paper towels," Rose said, and Alice followed her toward the bathroom.

Bella sat beside me and I passed Lucy over. "Sorry I got your kid all sticky."

"It's okay," she said, smiling as she kissed the top of Lucy's head. "Was she okay for you?"

I shrugged. "Yeah she was okay. I kept her safe." Whether I deserved to be or not, I was proud of myself. I'd kept her alive and safe for _over_ thirty minutes. It wasn't an experience I was ready to repeat, but we were both alive so I guessed that was all that mattered.

Rose, Alice, and Bella cleaned Lucy up with the paper towels and then changed her into a new outfit once we were back at the car.

Not wasting any time, I climbed into the driver's seat and took the keys from Mom. If I had to ride in this huge mom car, I wasn't going to be stuck in the back again. No matter how much Lucy begged me.

Once everyone was buckled in, I started driving toward home, finally able to relax knowing that the torture was over. Soon I'd be inside the warm house and hopefully alone.

"Wait," Mom said as I was about to turn. "Your father called me earlier and wants us to stop by his office before we go home."

Changing lanes, I did as she said without a word. What was the use anyway? I hoped this was just a quick errand, but based on my luck lately, this would be anything but quick.

After parking in a free spot, I unlocked the doors for Mom and whoever else to get out, but no one moved. I glanced over at Mom, wondering what the holdup was, but she was looking at me.

"Are you going to give me my keys?"

"Why? I'm staying here."

"Edward, it's too cold."

"Which is why I need your keys."

She shook her head. "You're not wasting my gas when there's a perfectly warm place to go. Just come inside with us. It won't kill you. I bet Lucy wants you to come, don't you, sweet girl?"

I didn't even turn around before turning off the car and handing the keys to Mom. I didn't need to. Of course Lucy would want me to go inside with them. That little girl was running my life now and i didn't have the energy to go against her today.

Everyone tried to hide their snickering as we walked to the door, but I still heard them. And they only became louder when Lucy reached her little hand out for mine from her spot in Bella's arms.

Thankfully there weren't any people in the waiting area to see me in this awkward position, arm halfway in the air as I held Lucy's hand. The receptionist let us go straight back to Dad's office where he was waiting for us.

"Just the people I've been waiting for," he said, smiling as he stood from his desk. "How was shopping?"

"Very successful," Mom said, meeting him halfway to give him a kiss. "We found everything on our lists and got Bella some new clothes for work tomorrow."

"Well good. It's been slow here, so I might be home early. But first, I wanted to get Miss Lucy in for a chest x-ray."

I felt Bella stiffen beside me which made Lucy hide her face against her shoulder.

"Um . . . what's that?" Bella asked softly. "Will it hurt her?"

Dad moved a little closer to us, shaking his head. "It won't hurt her at all. It's just a way for us to take a picture of her lungs so we can make sure the pneumonia is clearing up. And if it's not, we'll just have to try some different antibiotics. Based on the way she's been sounding though, I think we're just fine. It's just a precaution."

"Did you have an ultrasound when you were pregnant with Lucy?" Rose asked, and Bella nodded.

"When they used that wand to look inside my stomach to see Lucy?"

"Right! This is kind of like that, but nothing will even touch her. She'll just have to lie on a table for a few seconds."

"Oh. Okay. Are we doing it now?"

Dad nodded. "I say we go ahead and get it out of the way, then I can take a look and you guys can be on your way back to the house and out of the cold."

Bella didn't seem to be entirely convinced, but she followed Dad out of the room. Lucy wasn't happy to let go of my hand, but no one made me go with them. It was the only mercy my family had shown me so far today.

I wondered if the x-ray would upset Lucy but I didn't hear any screaming, and when they returned less than ten minutes later, she was smiling as Dad carried her.

"You were such a big girl, sweet pea." Dad kissed her cheek before passing her back to Bella. "When you leave, make sure you stop by and see Bree to get some stickers. You deserve a few."

Lucy giggled and hugged Bella but then saw me and I wound up with the kid in my arms.

"So what's the verdict?" Mom asked.

"She's all clear. It's what I expected since she's been sounding clear since yesterday, but it was nice to see some proof."

Knowing that Lucy wasn't sick anymore made me feel . . . _something. _ Relief, maybe? She had been really sick when I stumbled upon them. And i'd never wanted to be stuck with them but that didn't mean I wanted this littler girl to stay sick. Plus, she didn't cry anymore.

But as a reminder of what was still wrong, Lucy coughed . . . in my face. As if that was the perfect place to spread germs.

"Uh Dad? Can you fix that?" I asked, frowning as I pointed at her face.

Dad had the nerve to laugh as he shook his head. "I'm afraid not, son. It's good for her to cough and keep everything loosened up. She should be over that within a week or two. I'm not worried about it."

Great. Another week or two of little person germs.

After a round of goodbyes, we filed back out of the office and headed to the car, but only after Lucy received a whole row of animals stickers from Bree.

Mom climbed into the driver's seat before I had a chance, and Alice had shotgun. I had no way of getting out of sitting by Lucy and by the time we made it home, I was covered in stickers of zebras, lions, and monkeys.

I was pretty sure I'd never been happier to see our driveway than I was today, and as soon as I fulfilled my unloading duties, I went up to my room and locked the door, hoping it would work for once.

The first night I tried locking my door backfired. Locking it _did _keep Lucy from coming right in, but it did _not _keep her from knocking at seven in the morning. And for a kid, she was a pro at knocking loudly. I'd planned to ignore her until she went away so I could go back to sleep, but I also hadn't counted on my mother helping her. The two of them had knocked and called my name until I finally had to get out of bed and open the door just so i could get some peace and quiet.

It was easier to leave my door unlocked and just hope Lucy didn't wake me when she crawled into my bed than to deal with her pout and sad eyes every morning.

But this afternoon I was taking my chances.

I took my jacket off, pulled off my collection of stickers, and crashed on my couch. Grabbing the remove, I turned the TV on and flipped through the channels for something good to watch. I caught some sports highlights but nothing too interesting and wound up flipping through the channels again. Somehow, I managed to find _I Love Lucy_ and watched a whole episode before realizing what I was doing. I couldn't bring myself to change the channel and was watching another episode when there was a soft knock on my door.

No one called for "Eddard," so I was fairly sure it wasn't Lucy. With a huff, I rolled off the couch and unlocked and opened the door. I was surprised to see Bella on the other side and more surprised to see that she was alone.

"Um . . . hi," she said, biting her lip. "Sorry if I'm interrupting anything. I just wanted some quiet and thought maybe they wouldn't look for me here."

Chuckling, I ran my fingers through my hair and stepped aside for her to come in. "You want to escape them now, too? I thought I was the only one." After closing and locking the door again, I motioned toward the couch, and we sat on opposite ends.

"I love your family, and I'm _so_ glad we get to stay here . . . "

"But . . . ?"

She laughed softly and smiled at me. "_But_ I'm used to just me and Lucy. This is . . . a lot."

"I've known them my whole life and it's a lot for me, too. But I don't normally have to go shopping with them. That was some new level of hell."

Shaking her head, she looked down at her lap and sighed. "I don't think I'll ever be able to pay them back for everything they bought today. It's so much. We already get to stay here where it's warm and dry, and the food here is so good. We were okay with that."

"Mom won't care if you don't pay her back," I pointed out. What was the big deal? She wanted to buy them this stuff.

"No," Bella said, glancing up to meet my eyes. "I don't want to owe anyone. I can't do that to Lucy."

I nodded, not knowing what to say. Nothing she said ever made sense to me. This girl was strange.

We were quiet for a while, and i focused on the TV. Having Bella in my room wasn't as weird as I thought it would be, and it was definitely more enjoyable than Lucy's visits. Unlike her daughter, Bella was quiet and didn't feel the need to talk about Hispanic children and their pets.

But after half an hour passed, the quiet was awkward. I glanced over at Bella out of the corner of my eye, and she was wringing her hands in her lap as if she was nervous. Did _I_ make her nervous?

"So . . . " I said slowly, clearing my throat before looking at her. "Are you . . . going to work with us tomorrow?"

Her hands stopped moving as she met my eyes. "Yes, Esme said I'm going with her tomorrow. Alice is picking out clothes for me and Lucy now. What's it like? Working for you mom."

I shrugged. "It's okay, I guess. I have my own stuff to do so I don't really work directly for Mom. She does a little of everything, and I just focus on the finance."

"Oh. What do you do for that?"

"I'm in charge of our money. Mom likes to call me the CFO, but I don't think our company is big enough for a title like that. Basically I keep track of what we're spending and earning and our investments. I like numbers, so I enjoy it." I could have talked for hours about the specifics, but I chose my words carefully. If Bella didn't know what a blizzard or an x-ray was, she probably wouldn't have understood my risk management and investment strategies. Plus, I figured she didn't want to hear about that. Most girls I'd ever talked to couldn't have cared less about accounting and the stock market.

But with Bella, it wasn't the same. She wasn't sighing and looking away like she had better things to think about or interrupting to talk about something I didn't care about. She actually listened and seemed interested in what I was saying. This was different.

"I prepare a weekly report for the company, too," I continued since I had a willing audience. "It's always a part of our staff meeting so we know how we're doing. This is the slow part of the year for us, but we're still doing well."

Everyone in the company counted on me to have accurate, up to date information. Though I was young, I still managed my responsibilities and did my best to never let them down. So far, I hadn't and I was proud of myself. This had been my dream job since I could remember.

Bella's eyes were wide. "Wow. You do all of that? Edward, that's . . . amazing. I've never done anything close to that important." She looked down, shaking her head. "I can't even dress myself," she said softly. "Alice is picking out my clothes for tomorrow right now."

Her sad face made my chest hurt. I definitely needed some Tums if I was going to be around her more often.

"Well, I can't dress myself either," I offered, wanting to make her feel better. "Clothes usually appear in my closet — I'm assuming from Alice — and that's how I know what to wear. I prefer this." I gestured toward my current clothes. Jeans and hoodies were what I lived in during the winter.

She smiled after taking in my appearance. "That's what I like too. At my old job, I could wear whatever I wanted because I had an apron. Alice and your Mom keep saying 'business casual,' but I don't know what that means."

"You had a job?" I asked. For some reason, that surprised me. She was alone with a kid. How could she have worked? And why was she homeless? "What did you do?"

"I worked at a coffee shop. I know coffee and pastries, not offices."

"How long did you work there?" I had no idea why I was interested, but I simply was. Bella was unlike anyone I'd ever talked to before. Her life was completely different than mine.

"Almost three years. I-I think I miss it."

"So why did you stop working there if you miss it?" I asked. The small smile on her face suddenly disappeared, and my heartburn was back. Fuck. "Sorry. You don't have to answer -"

She shook her head, interrupting me. "No, it's okay. I had to leave. It wasn't . . . I didn't feel safe there anymore. And with Lucy with me . . . I just couldn't take the chance."

I nodded though I didn't actually understand. And I wanted to ask more about why she didn't feel safe, but I couldn't decide if I wanted the answers.

This girl wasn't a psychopath like I'd originally thought. Of that I was almost positive. But she wasn't normal either. Bella was like a puzzle, and I couldn't decide if I wanted to solve her.

Thanks to more knocking on the door, I knew my thoughts would have to wait, especially when the knocking was accompanied by a call for "Eddard."

My plans for an afternoon alone had been ruined, but I wasn't sure if I regretted letting Bella hide out with me. But that was right on par with the course of my life recently. I wasn't sure of anything.

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**A/N: Thank you all so much for the continued support! You guys are just awesome.**

**Sorry for the late update and lack of review replies. My summer schedule was up in the air until last week, and now I'm dealing with 180 hours of night shifts from now until the end of July. So updates might be a slow for a little while depending on how I adjust to being awake all night several times a week. We'll just see what happens, but thanks in advance for sticking with me! =)**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks so much for reading!**


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